The Taliban will boycott any conference on Afghanistan until all foreign forces are completely withdrawn from the country, a Taliban spokesman tweeted.

Thus, the Taliban refused to participate in the upcoming peace conference in Istanbul, Axios reported.

The announcement also came after the White House announced that the United States would withdraw its troops by 9/11 and would not be able to do so by May 1.

The UN said the Istanbul conference will take place April 24 - May 4 and will aim to help the Taliban and the Afghan government move towards a just and lasting political settlement.

Last year, the Trump administration reached an agreement with the Taliban that would require the US to withdraw its troops by May 1. There are currently about 10,000 NATO troops in the country, of which approximately 3,500 are American.