Taliban warn Trump to tread carefully

KABUL: The war of words between the Taliban and President Donald Trump escalated on Thursday as the Afghan insurgents warned that the US leader had failed to grasp “what type of nation he is dealing with”.

The latest salvo in the bitter exchange comes a day after Trump boasted during a 9/11 anniversary ceremony that US 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 US drawdown troop levels in Afghanistan.The Taliban spokesman’s tweet comes just hours after the group launched a suicide attack that killed at least four soldiers near Kabul, as the insurgents ramp up attacks on security forces.

The incident occurred at a special forces base in Char Asiab district just south of the capital Kabul where an insurgent driving a car packed with explosives detonated near the facility’s entrance.