WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has canceled a secret weekend meeting with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders. He said the meeting was put off after a bombing in the past week in Kabul.

Trump’s tweet was surprising because it would mean that the president was ready to host members of the Taliban at the presidential retreat in Maryland just days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, AP reported.

More than 2,400 U.S. troops have been killed since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to go after the Taliban, which were harboring al-Qaida leaders responsible for 9/11, according to the report.