saying late last year that 28,000 had been killed since 2015.
"The number of international casualties is less than 72," he said on Friday. "It shows who is doing the fighting."
His comments come amid top-level talks between US and Taliban representatives.
The Taliban, the main insurgent group in Afghanistan, said on Thursday that they had held four days of face-to-face talks with US officials seeking to end 17 years of war.
It is not clear if the talks have continued into Friday, but earlier reports said negotiators were progressing towards a deal.
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