Taliban an insurgency, IS a terror group: White House

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): The Taliban are an armed insurgency while the Islamic State is a terrorist group, the White House said on Thursday.

“So we don’t make concessions to terrorist groups,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters at a news conference here.

He was responding to a question on a prisoner swap for the release of US soldier Bergdahl from Taliban’s captivity in southeastern Afghanistan.

“Prisoner swaps are a traditional, end-of-conflict interaction that happens. As the war in Afghanistan wound down, we felt like it was the appropriate thing to do,” Schultz remarked.

President Barack Obama’s bedrock commitment as commander-in-chief was to leave no man or woman behind, the deputy secretary said, adding the American leader was following that principle.

In response to a query, Schultz said: “I don’t think that the Taliban (are a terrorist group); they are an armed insurgency.  This was a winding down of the war in Afghanistan, and that’s why this arrangement was dealt.”

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