Afghanistan Wants Answers As Trump Threatens To Wipe It 'Off The Face Of The Earth'

President Donald Trump's controversial remarks on Afghanistan evoked a strong reaction from Afghan leaders who sought clarification from Trump.

President Trump said on Monday that the U.S. military could win the Afghanistan war in 10 days but that may lead to the country “wiped off the face of the earth”

“Given the multifaceted relationship between Afghanistan and the United States, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan calls for clarification on the U.S. President's statements,” a statement from the Afghanistan President’s office said.

President Trump made these remarks in the presence of visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

During the remarks, Trump also mentioned the dropping of America's largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan in 2017 and added that dropping more such bombs may offer an easy solution to end the conflict. But he will not do it.

“But I just don't want to kill 10 million people. If I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the earth. It would be gone. It would be over in — literally, in 10 days. And I don't want to do — I don't want to go that route," Trump added.

Afghanistan protests to the special envoy

The anguish in Afghanistan was apparent in many of the statements that followed.

“The Afghan nation has not and will never allow any foreign power to determine its fate,” said Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the President of Afghanistan in a statement.

Trump’s comments coincided with the arrival of top U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, in Kabul for discussions with the Afghan leadership on reaching an accord to end America's longest war.

According to reports, there was a tense meeting between the U.S special representative and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

In the meeting, Afghan officials called Trump's comments “unacceptable" and told Khalilzad that Trump should show more respect for President Ghani's leadership.

The U.S. State Department did not comment.

Envoy says Trump expressed the futility of war

Meanwhile, the U.S special envoy tried to interpret Trump’s remarks in a positive light. In a tweet, Khalilzad said Trump only “reiterated to the world that there is no viable military solution to the war in Afghanistan and peace must be achieved through a political settlement.”

More than 20,000 foreign troops are stationed in Afghanistan. The bulk of the troops is American, and are deployed under the US- NATO-led mission to train and assist Afghan forces. A fraction of the U.S forces also handles “counterterrorism” operations.

Taliban flays Trump’s comments

Meanwhile, in the latest Afghanistan news, the Taliban also joined other Afghan leaders in flaying Trump's remarks. The Taliban termed Trump’s comments “irresponsible.”

“Trump's policy that he does not want to play the role of a police officer in Afghanistan and that this war against an entire nation cannot be won so long as they are alive is something positive,” Taliban’s Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

“However, Trump’s claim that he can wipe out Afghanistan, kill 10 million Afghans and win this war is irresponsible and we condemn it in the strongest terms,” the Taliban rejoinder added.

On talks with the Taliban, Ghani’s Afghan government is against talking directly to the Taliban leadership but protested against being left out of the negotiating process with the Taliban. The special envoy was tackling that issue.