White House condemns assassination of Afghan govt spokesman

Washington has condemned the assassination of Dawa Khan Menapal, the director of the government’s information media center, and said such action by the Taliban will not gain them international legitimacy.

Addressing a press briefing on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “The Taliban has claimed responsibility for this later attack, and there’s no reason to doubt reports they are responsible.

“Additionally, there are credible reports, as you’ve touched on, of atrocities and retaliation against civilians in other Taliban-controlled areas, which, of course, we are closely tracking and concerned about,” she said.

Menapal’s assassination follows the bombing attack in Kabul earlier this week that targeted the Acting Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi’s house.

Psaki went on to say that “if the Taliban claim to want international legitimacy, these actions are not going to get them the legitimacy they seek.

“They do not have to stay on this trajectory. They could choose to devote the same energy to the peace process as they are to their military campaign.

“We strongly urge them to do so. This is what the Afghan people so urgently need, deserve after decades of war,” she said adding that it was very much in Afghanistan’s neighbors’ interest to invest renewed energy into a peace process that promotes a peaceful Afghanistan and stable region.