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US Tells Ghani It Is Ready to Use Lethal Force If Taliban Violates Deal With Washington - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US officials have assured Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan delegates that Washington will not abandon Afghanistan after signing an agreement on the reduction of violence with the Taliban movement and is ready to use lethal force if the deal is violated, CNN reported on Saturday, citing a source in Munich.
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"We guarantee you if they [Taliban] break [terms of the deal] US will have enough lethal power to destroy them, we are with the Afghan now and we will be with Afghanistan forever," US officials told the Afghan side, as quoted by CNN.

At the same time, the Afghan representatives want to have a deeper understanding of how the US-Taliban agreement to reduce violence will work, according to the broadcaster.

On Friday, Washington and the Taliban agreed to reduce violence for a week in what could become the first step to reaching a peace agreement between the sides.

The Taliban and the United States have been attempting to negotiate a peace deal that would ensure the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the movement's guarantee that the country will not become a safe haven for terrorists.

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