Taliban threaten to re-target foreign troops if withdrawal deadline missed

KABUL: The Taliban on Friday threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops in Afghanistan if they did not meet a May 1 deadline to withdraw.

The Taliban threat followed comments by US President Joe Biden, who on Thursday said it would be hard to withdraw the last US troops by the deadline, which was agreed with Washington last year. Also on Thursday, Germany's lawmakers approved a mandate to allow its troops to stay in Afghanistan until Jan 31, 2022. If the May 1 deadline was not met, the Taliban would be "compelled to... continue its Jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces to liberate its country", they said in a statement.

The United States and the Taliban last year agreed that all foreign troops would be withdrawn in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group and the start of peace talks with the Afghan government.