Taliban says has right to react if US troops stay in Afghanistan

Spokesman tells Al Jazeera if US keeps 650 troops past September 11 deadline, it will be ‘clear violation’ of agreement.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview that the armed group has the “right to react” if the United States still keeps troops in Afghanistan after September 11, when the withdrawal is due to complete. US officials told The Associated Press news agency on Thursday that roughly 650 US soldiers were expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after Washington pulled its forces out to end its 20-year military presence in the country. Reacting to the report, Shaheen told Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid in Doha that if the US did so, it would be in breach of an agreement aimed at ending the US’s longest war that was struck between Washington and the Taliban in the Qatari capital in February 2020.