Kabul, Afghanistan – The Taliban militant group has threatened the United States with a renewed escalation of war if US and NATO forces do not withdraw from Afghanistan as agreed.

"If the Doha agreement is abrogated, it will lead to a major war, the responsibility for which shall fall squarely on the shoulders of America," the group said Friday on its official website.

The Taliban was responding to a report by a bipartisan expert group that has urged the administration of US President Joe Biden to postpone the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Under the Trump administration, the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban that provides for the gradual withdrawal of all NATO forces from the country by the end of April 2021. In return, the Taliban committed to renouncing violence and entering peace talks with the government.

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The group has continued carrying out attacks in various parts of the country despite the start of direct peace talks between the internationally-backed Afghan government and the militants in Qatar in mid-September.

Taliban fighters killed at least 16 members of the Afghan security forces overnight in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province, officials said on Friday.

The US has reduced its troop contingent in Afghanistan to 2,500, the lowest level since 2001, when a US-led military invasion toppled the Taliban regime following the 9/11 attacks.