US ‘facilitated’ Afghan talks with Taliban in some “isolated cases”: Petraeus

WASHINGTON - Backing efforts to broker talks with the Taliban to reach a settlement, top US commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus has said that Washington has been promoting dialogue with extremists but only in some “isolated cases”.

In an interview with Fox News, General Petraeus said the Obama administration is closely following the efforts being put in place by the Afghanistan government to open talks with the Taliban commanders.

“The US is very much in the information loop and in a couple of cases has helped in a sense, but is not doing the negotiation. Actually in a couple of isolated cases there’s been a degree of facilitation, if you will,” he said.

General Petraeus underlined that the nine-year-old ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan would have an ending based on negotiation, which has been the case with insurgencies across the world, including Iraq.

“We sat down across the table in Iraq from individuals who had our blood on their hands. It’s what’s done in just about any insurgency as you get to the end stages of it,” he added.

General Petraeus had earlier said that the allied forces have reversed the progress of the extremists in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Petraeus also claimed that militants have been stopped from making any new move in their strongholds such as Kandahar and Helmand provinces.

However, his statements were vehemently rejected by the Taliban, which said that attacks around Kabul as well as in the southern part of the country were on rise. (ANI)