Pompeo: Taliban 'overreached' in attack that killed American

Business Insider

Sep 8, 2019, 18:34 IST

Pompeo: Taliban 'overreached' in attack that killed American

An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Elis Barreto Ortiz, 34, from Morovis, Puerto Rico, past Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Ortiz was killed in action Sept. 5, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ortiz was supporting Operation Freedom's Sentinel. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pahm-PAY'-oh) says the Taliban "overreached" with their car bomb attack in a diplomatic area near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, killing an American soldier - and that led President Donald Trump to pull back from planned Afghanistan peace talks at Camp David.

Pompeo says it's now up to the Taliban to "change their behavior." America's top diplomat isn't saying whether or when peace talks would resume.

Trump tweeted on Saturday night that he had canceled a secret meeting, planned for Sunday at the presidential retreat in Maryland, with Taliban and Afghan leaders, and called off talks with the insurgent group. He cited the Thursday attack.

Pompeo is appearing on five Sunday news shows.