Afghan government says real peace will come when Taliban stop violence, hold direct talks
KABUL, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani's office on Sunday said real peace was only possible when the Taliban stopped their violence and held direct talks with the government.
"Real peace will come when Taliban agree to a ceasefire," Ghani's officials said in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's cancelling peace talks with Taliban's "major leaders" at a presidential compound in Camp David, Maryland.
Trump on Saturday said he cancelled peace talks after the insurgent group claimed responsibility last week for an attack in Kabul that killed an American soldier and 11 other people.
Trump said he had also planned to meet with Afghanistan's president. (Reporting by Hamid Shalizi, Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Orooj Hakimi, Rupam Jain, James Mackenzie in Kabul, Editing by Michael Perry)
