WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump Monday said talks with the Taliban for a peace deal in Afghanistan are "dead", contradicting his top diplomat's previous remarks.
"As far as I am concerned, they are dead," Trump told reporters at the White House.
The United States and the Taliban were reportedly close to a deal but talks came to a grinding halt over the weekend when Trump pulled the plug in response to a deadly attack in Kabul last week that killed one U.S. soldier and 11 others.
Trump tweeted Saturday that he had cancelled secret meetings Sunday with the Afghan president and Taliban leaders at Camp David because of the attack.
Trump accused the Taliban of trying to gain leverage at the bargaining table with the attack, signalling the United States would retaliate.
"We've hit the Taliban harder in the last four days than they've been hit in over 10 years," Trump said.
Trump's remarks came one day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told U.S. media outlets that though the talks are halted for the time being, he hoped they would "get started back."
