By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
August 12, 2021
Envoys from the United States, China, Russia, and Pakistan who have been meeting in Doha, Qatar, with Taliban and Afghan government negotiators will hold their third and final day of talks on August 12 in a bid to break a months-long deadlock in peace talks.
The Afghan delegation, led by Abdullah Abdullah, head of the government’s Reconciliation Council, has demanded the Taliban immediately end attacks on cities and begin a dialogue to find a political solution, Hamid Tahzib, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s deputy foreign minister, said in a statement on August 11.
Abdullah said the day before that the Taliban had not taken peace talks seriously in recent months and that no progress had been made.
State Department spokesman Ned Price also lamented the “painfully slow” pace of the talks, noting that U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and his Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani counterparts and officials from other countries and international organizations began the talks on August 10.
“It is our intention to forge consensus and to have the international community speak with one voice” on the need for a peace deal, he said.
The Taliban committed to intra-Afghan talks on a peace accord that lead to a “permanent and comprehensive cease-fire,” Price added, speaking at a briefing on August 11. “All indications at least suggest the Taliban are instead pursuing a battlefield victory.”
Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, told Radio Azadi on the second day of the meeting that the government was not committed to the talks and was not interested in peace and therefore the international community should put pressure on the Kabul administration.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad on August 11 that despite the Taliban’s takeover of large areas in Afghanistan, Pakistan would continue its efforts for peace.
Pakistan’s delegation in Doha is in touch with all parties working for peace and stability in Afghanistan, he said.
“We have clear interests in peace and stability in Afghanistan,” he added. “We have done our best and we will continue to do so.”
Earlier on August 11, a delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the co-founder of the militant group, met with Russian envoy to the talks Zamir Kabulov to discuss the current situation in the country and the negotiations. Kabulov expressed readiness to accelerate the Afghan peace talks, TASS reported.
The three-day meeting in the Qatari capital has been taking place amid a Taliban offensive that has seized a number of Afghan provinces and provincial capitals in the past week.
On August 11 the Taliban captured Kunduz airport when most government forces there surrendered, while others retreated to the Aliabad district of Kunduz, sources told Radio Azadi on condition of anonymity.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that the group had taken control of the airport, and posted a video purportedly showing government soldiers joining the militants’ ranks. The Taliban also captured a prison in the strategic northern city, Mujahid claimed.
In response to the Taliban’s rapid advance across the country, President Ashraf Ghani fired the army chief of staff on August 11. A Defense Ministry spokesman tweeted that General Hibatullah Alizai had been named to replace General Wali Ahmadzai as the country’s top military commander.
He also and traveled to Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh Province and a key regional hub, to rally local defenses.
The Taliban has waged its offensive across Afghanistan since May 1, when the United States and its allies officially began a pullout slated for completion this month.
At least nine of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals have reportedly been captured by Taliban militants in the past week.
This story includes reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and TASS
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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