President Trump Declares Talks With The Taliban 'Dead'

The US President said the peace talks are "dead" (Picture: US Army).

US President Donald Trump has cancelled a meeting aimed at reaching a peace deal with Taliban leaders and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The peace deal could have ended the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan. 

Speaking to reporters on the White House south lawn said as far as he is concerned talks have reached an end:

"They are dead, they are dead."

It was announced on Saturday night that the US President had cancelled a meeting with Taliban leaders and another meeting with President Ashraf Ghani.

Mr Trump's decision followed a car bombing that killed a US service member and 11 other people in Afghanistan. It was then later claimed by the Taliban.

Before last week's events, the peace deal was reaching the final stages of negotiations.

"We have progress in this round so we are finalising the remaining points," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told journalists outside the up-market Doha members' club on 28 August.

"They thought they had to kill people in order to put themselves in a little better negotiating position," President Trump told reporters.

"They did a mistake... They are saying it loud and clear that they made a big mistake."

While remarking that talks with the Taliban are now off the negotiating table, the US President stated that discussions with the Afghan government are still ongoing.

In a statement, the Afghan government welcomed President Trump's decision to cancel the meeting with the Taliban.

However, the Afghans have also reportedly said they fear the decision could lead to more violence in the region.