Taleban vows to fight on after Trump says talks are 'dead'

Kabul - Taleban's statement came hours after Trump told reporters that the US was walking away from negotiations.

The Taleban on Tuesday vowed to continue fighting against US forces in Afghanistan after President Donald Trump said talks with the insurgents were "dead", saying Washington would regret abandoning negotiations. 
The renewed war of words between the two sides raised the spectre of violence in Afghanistan as Trump and the Taleban pledged to take the fight to each other following the precipitous collapse in talks.
"We had two ways to end occupation in Afghanistan, one was jihad and fighting, the other was talks and negotiations," Taleban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.
"If Trump wants to stop talks, we will take the first way and they will soon regret it. 
The Taleban's statement came hours after Trump told reporters that the US was walking away from negotiations after nearly a year of talks that aimed to pave the way for an American withdrawal from Afghanistan following 18 years of war.
"They are dead. As far as I am concerned, they are dead," Trump said at the White House.
The announcement followed Trump's dramatic cancellation of a top-secret plan to fly Taleban leaders in for direct talks at the Camp David presidential facility outside Washington.