ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Taliban spokesman says the religious militia won’t attend a peace conference tentatively planned for later this week in Turkey. The announcement Monday puts U.S. efforts to get a peace plan anytime soon in jeopardy. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken previously said he wanted to see a peace agreement between Afghanistan’s warring sides finalized at a conference hosted by Turkey and attended by top officials from both the Taliban and the Afghan government. Afghan government, U.S. and Turkish officials had said they intended to begin the conference Friday. It was to last 10 days.
