The war of words between the Taliban and President Donald Trump escalated on Thursday as the Afghan insurgents warned that the U.S. leader had failed to grasp “what type of nation he is dealing with”.
The latest salvo comes a day after Mr. Trump boasted during a 9/11 anniversary ceremony that American forces have “hit our enemy harder than they have ever been hit before and that will continue” just days after peace talks between the two sides collapsed.
“Trump (@realDonaldTrump) must tread carefully,” tweeted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
“He has yet to grasp the type of nation he is dealing with. His advisers must make him understand & introduce the Graveyard of Empires #Afghanistan to him.”
Until this weekend there had been steadily mounting expectations of a deal that would see the U.S. drawdown troop levels in Afghanistan. In return, the Taliban would offer security guarantees to keep extremist groups out.
But then on Saturday, Trump revealed on Twitter that he had cancelled an unprecedented meeting between the Taliban and himself at Camp David and later said the talks with the militants were “dead”.
The spokesman’s tweet comes just hours after the group launched a suicide attack that killed at least four soldiers, as the insurgents ramp up attacks on security forces. The incident occurred at a special forces base in Char Asiab district where an insurgent driving a car packed with explosives detonated near the facility.
