The Taliban said on Wednesday, in a rare statement to the American people, they wanted to end Afghanistan’s 17-year war through talks, while warning the message should not be seen as a sign of weakness and the fight against U.S. forces would go on.

A more aggressive U.S. strategy in Afghanistan including a surge in air strikes introduced by President Donald Trump in August has pushed the Taliban back from several district centres and two provincial capitals.

But the militants control large parts of the countryside and have responded to the more aggressive U.S. strategy with two attacks in Kabul in the past few weeks, killing nearly 150 people.

The attacks have toughened both the U.S. and Afghan governments’ stand against initiating talks with the insurgents, although neither side seems capable of winning the conflict.

“Our preference is to solve the Afghan issue through peaceful dialogue,” the Taliban said.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and defeat the U.S.-backed government, said the United States must end its “occupation” and accept the Taliban right to form a government “consistent with the beliefs of our people”.

In their statement, the Taliban did not mention a Jan. 27 raid on a top Kabul hotel, in which more than 30 people were killed, nor a bomb attack on a crowded street a week later that killed more than 100. They claimed both attacks.

The militants only mentioned the Afghan government to deride it on various grounds. A government spokesman declined to comment on the statement. (Reuters)