ISLAMABAD - Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founders of the Taliban and the group’s chief negotiator with the US, has said that “the war will end when the U.S. withdraws from Afghanistan,”

Baradar spoke to FRONTLINE, America’s top documentary making media outlet which is keenly watched by US policy makers, in Qatar in an exclusive interview as part of a new documentary, Taliban Country, which premieres Tuesday, Jan 21 on PBS and online.

“[T]he Americans made a huge mistake by coming to Afghanistan and starting this war in Afghanistan,” Baradar told FRONTLINE. “Because their main goal was just one person — Osama bin Laden — and he is now gone. We are obliged, as it is our country, to defend it with our lives.”

Trump halted the talks in September after a bombing in Afghanistan’s capital killed a US soldier, but announced in November that they would resume.

Baradar said that he blamed the US for the war. “It was the U.S. who brought misery in Afghanistan. Such tragedy wouldn’t have occurred, nor would so many lives have been lost.”

After a US withdrawal, Baradar said the Taliban would be able to take care of its remaining problems: defeat the remaining ISIS militants — and reach an agreement with the Afghan government. “If there’s no US, we [will] for sure reach an agreement between ourselves, because they are Afghans and we are Afghans.”

When asked Baradar on how the Taliban would exercise its power if the US left Afghanistan. Before the US invasion, the Taliban imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law. Girls were not allowed to attend school, women were extremely limited in their ability to work, and their movements and appearance were strictly policed.

The prospect of the Taliban once again holding power in Afghanistan has raised concerns among rights groups and the international community. Afghan women have talked about the fear and uncertainty they feel, and how much they might lose.

Baradar’s answer was ambiguous — women would have rights, he said, but only according to the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, according the Frontline website.

“There has been no change in the Taliban in this regard,” he said. “We accept all the rights that God has granted to women. Under Islamic law, if they want to live and work, of course we will allow it.”