Radio Free Afghanistan
March 18, 2021
Representatives of the Afghan government, the Taliban, and several major countries have gathered in Moscow to push for a reduction in violence to advance the peace process in Afghanistan.
“We hope that today’s conversation will help create conditions for achieving progressive inter-Afghan negotiations,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on March 18 in his opening remarks at the meeting — the first of three planned international conferences ahead of a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the country.
The date was fixed under a February 2020 agreement made with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. But his successor, Joe Biden, has warned it could be difficult for the United States to meet the deadline, especially with violence escalating in the war-torn country.
“I’m in the process of making that decision now as to when they’ll leave,” Biden said in an interview aired on March 17, amid a spike in violence across Afghanistan as talks in Qatar between the Afghan government and the Taliban have stalled.
Washington and Kabul have been pressing for a cease-fire, while the Taliban say they will negotiate it as part of talks with the Afghan government.
The conference is being attended by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s National Reconciliation Council, and Mullah Baradar, the Taliban deputy leader and chief negotiator at the talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Representatives from Pakistan, Iran, India, and China are also attending, as is the host Russia.
The Moscow gathering will be followed by a meeting of regional players next month in Turkey and a summit that Khalilzad has asked the United Nations to organize.
The United Nations, which is not participating in the Moscow talks, announced on March 17 that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominated a new personal envoy, Jean Arnault of France, to work for peace in Afghanistan.
Arnault will work with Deborah Lyons, who is the world body’s special envoy to Afghanistan. The Canadian is also the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Afghan officials said four people were killed when a roadside bomb hit a vehicle carrying government employees in Kabul on March 18, while nine Afghan security force members died in a helicopter crash in central Afghanistan late the previous day.
Reports say the explosion hit a bus carrying employees of the Information and Technology Ministry.
No one immediately claimed responsibility, but the Western-backed government in Kabul has blamed Taliban insurgents for recent attacks targeting government employees, civil society figures, and journalists.
The militant group has denied involvement in the campaign.
The Defense Ministry said the helicopter crashed in Maidan Wardak Province, with unidentified sources saying the aircraft was hit by a rocket during takeoff.
With reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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