The United States embassy in Kabul says that the Department of Defense official misspoke in referring to the Taliban as a “partner” in a Wednesday evening news briefing.

“They most certainly are not. Our position has not changed. The United States continues to support an Afghan-led political process by which all Afghan opposition groups, including the Taliban, enter a political dialogue so that Afghans can talk to other Afghans about the future of their country and to eventually resolve the conflict in Afghanistan,” states a statement released by the embassy on Sunday.

“The Taliban have a choice. They can accept the Government of Afghanistan’s invitation to engage in a peace process and ultimately become part of the legitimate political system of a sovereign, united Afghanistan, supported by the international community. Or, they can choose to continue fighting fellow Afghans and destabilizing their own country. “

The statement further states that the United States and the international community support any outcome of this political process in which the Taliban and other armed Afghan opposition groups pledge to end violence, break associations with international terrorism, and accept the Afghanistan constitution and its protections for women and minorities.