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Acknowledging that Afghanistan remains a "dangerous place", the US has said Taliban's continued terror attacks underscore the importance of the peace talks to get to a "productive conclusion".
"We continue to encourage that process to move forward," State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters yesterday.
"It is absolutely true that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place; there's no question about that. Today's attack underscores that," he said referring to the latest suicide attack in Kabul that killed at least 20 people.
"It actually underscores all the more the importance of getting reconciliation talks (between the Afghan government and the Taliban) going and getting to a useful conclusion there, a productive conclusion to that," he said.
It also underscores the importance of the continued international mission in Afghanistan to continue to improve the capability, confidence and competence of Afghan National Security Forces, Kirby said.
The Afghan National Security Forces continue to do an admirable job inside the country and even when an attack like today happens, responding effectively and efficiently as best they can, he stated.
"There's still a lot of work to be done in Afghanistan. We recognise that. But again, all of this is a reminder of how important it is for everybody to see these reconciliation talks continue," Kirby said.
Challenging the assertion that Taliban has no interest in the peace process, Kirby said they are not a monolithic organisation the way that some people want to paint them as.
"We still think that that's the way forward. We still think that there's room to make that happen. Today's attack is just that much more of a reminder that that's really the answer here, and we're going to continue to encourage that progress," he said.
"We still believe it's the right way forward. There has been interest in the recent past, and we would want to encourage that interest to continue," he added.
