A top Afghan delegation, led by the country’s peace council chairman Abdullah Abdullah, departed for Qatar’s capital Doha on Friday for crucial talks with the Taliban amid ensuing violence in Afghanistan.
Speaking to reporters at the Kabul Airport, Abdullah said the Taliban must realize the raging war and advances on districts would lead them nowhere, and they need to capitalize on this chance for political settlement in the country. “There is still a chance for peace despite the ongoing heavy fighting between the government forces and the Taliban in various parts of the country,” said chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
Karzai last week called on the Afghan government and the Taliban to prioritize peace talks over bloodshed in the country. Addressing a news conference at his residence, Karzai also hinted at resumption of stalled talks between the two sides.
Also last week, the top US peace broker, Zalmay Khalilzad, began his shuttle diplomacy tour of Qatar, Uzbekistan and Pakistan amid ensuing violence across Afghanistan. In a series of tweets, Afghanistan-born seasoned US diplomat said he was returning to Doha and the region to continue “determined diplomacy” in pursuit of a peace agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban.
Since US President Joe Biden announced an exit plan from Afghanistan in May, the Taliban have captured over 150 districts in the war-weary country.
The intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha are part of the US-Taliban peace deal inked in February 2020, but both the Afghan government and the Taliban have been blaming each other for the lack of progress on the negotiation table.
Peace conference in Islamabad postponed
Meanwhile, Pakistan on Friday postponed a scheduled Afghan peace conference in capital Islamabad over the weekend on the request of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, as per a senior official at Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The announcement came after Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Friday met on the sidelines of “Central and South Asia 2021: Regional Connectivity: Challenges and Opportunities” conference, in Uzbekistan.
In a short statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the Afghan peace conference scheduled to be held in Islamabad from July 17-19 has been postponed until after Eid al-Adha, a holy Muslim festival.
The US and three Central and South Asian nations announced on Friday the formation of a regional platform meant to bolster "regional connectivity" ahead of the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
The new group, which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, is focused on ensuring regional peace ahead of the US exit, which is expected by the end of August, and improving trade in the region.
"The parties consider long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan critical to regional connectivity and agree that peace and regional connectivity are mutually reinforcing," the State Department said in a statement.
Representatives of the four nations are expected to meet in the coming months "to determine the modalities of this cooperation with mutual consensus," the department added.
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