Taliban say U.S. must quit Afghanistan for peace

The city of Kabul can be seen at sundown from the rear deck of a U.S. Army helicopter as it departs Resolute Support headquarters with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis aboard in Kabul, Afghanistan April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban warned on Friday against sending more Western troops to Afghanistan, while pledging that it sought only independence under Islamic rule and rejecting concerns it would harbour foreign militants.

In a statement marking Eid al-Fitr, the festival at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada combined defiant calls for the United States to get out of Afghanistan with more conciliatory messages.