Afghanistan Resistance urges US to probe into ex-envoy Khalilzad's 'ties' with Taliban

The Afghan National Resistance Front urged the United States on Monday to investigate its former top ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, over alleged "dealings" with the Taliban. This comes nearly two months after the United States withdrew from the war-torn country in a "chaotic" manner. Khalilzad was in charge of talks with the Taliban in Qatar, which resulted in the Doha Agreement with the US troops to leave by May 2021.

Ali Nazary, the foreign relations chief of the National Resistance Front, took to Twitter and said, "The US gov't should conduct a thorough investigation of Zalmay Khalilzad's backdoor deals w/ the Taliban crime syndicate. For the past 3 years he betrayed both Afghanistan & the US by legitimizing a terrorist group & giving too many concessions without anything tangible in return [sic]." 

In a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Khalilzad allegedly conceded that the political agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government "did not go forward as planned." "The reasons behind this are far too complicated to discuss here, but I shall do so in the coming days and weeks," he wrote in the letter as reported by BBC News. Meanwhile, on Monday, Khalilzad stepped down from his role and his deputy Tomas West will be the Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 70-year-old Khalilzad was born and brought up in Kabul. He is a seasoned US diplomat who served in different capacities under former Presidents George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. 

Blinken expresses gratitude to Khalilzad for services

Blinken also thanked Khalilzad for his "decades of tireless service to the United States." It should be mentioned here that Khalilzad had opted to resign in May after President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan. His resignation comes amid the State Department Inspector General's announcement to launch a series of investigations into the US' "chaotic" withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Khalilzad's successor West formerly worked with Biden's national security team when the latter was Vice President under Obama's administration. According to the official release, West will now oversee diplomatic operations, advise the Secretary and Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and work closely with the US Embassy in Kabul.

(With ANI inputs)

Image: AP/ Twitter/ @ Ali Maisam Nazary