Khalilzad
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
July 25, 2020
ISLAMABAD – The U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan said Friday that violence in the war-torn country had lately been “too high,” but that fatalities among Afghan government security forces battling the Taliban insurgency had dropped 35 percent to 40 percent compared with the same period in 2019.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the special representative for Afghan reconciliation, also noted that no American or coalition solider had been killed by the Taliban since the United States signed a landmark agreement with the insurgent group in February to end the nearly 19-year-old Afghan war, America’s longest.
Khalilzad, who negotiated and sealed the deal, shared the assessment while speaking to an online forum in Washington arranged by the United States Institute of Peace.
“This year, the number of Afghan security forces killed is between 35 and 40% less than last year for the same period and the number of civilians killed is also significantly lower for the same period compared to last year,” the Afghan-born U.S. envoy said.
Hurdles to peace talks
Khalilzad’s assessment of the conflict contradict assertions by Afghan authorities that insurgent violence has sharply risen to record levels after the US-Taliban deal, killing hundreds of government security forces and civilians.
He lamented, however, that the recent intensification in violence and a protracted prisoner swap between the Kabul government and the Taliban stand in the way of the opening of much-awaited peace negotiations between Afghan parties to the conflict. Both crucial next steps are stipulated in the U.S.-Taliban pact.
Khalilzad said the Trump administration was “not satisfied” with the current level of violence and was working with both Afghan adversaries to encourage them to reduce it further.
“I am hoping that as we move closer to intra-Afghan negotiations, which I hope will happen in the coming weeks, that violence will be less than it is now,” Khalilzad stressed.
A spokesman for the Afghan National Security Council, in an apparent response to Khalilzad’s remarks, tweeted Saturday that insurgent violence has not decreased.
“Taliban killed 46 civilians and wounded 93 in 401 terrorist activities in just one week. Peace requires commitment and will, which aren’t visible in the actions of the Taliban, said Javid Faisal.
The proposed dialogue is aimed at reaching a permanent cease-fire and a political formula for ending decades of hostilities in Afghanistan. But the opening of the dialogue is directly tied to the conclusion of the prisoner swap, as outlined in the February 29 accord.
Khalilzad said Friday that he was pleased to see the Afghan government had released more than 4,400 insurgent prisoners out of the promised 5,000 in its custody. In turn, the Taliban have released 861 from the objective of 1,000 Afghan forces, he added.
“Most of the distance has been traveled in this difficult road but the last mile remains very challenging,” the U.S. envoy said. He added that Washington was committed to working with both sides to help complete the prisoner release so that intra-Afghan negotiations could begin.
Khalilzad spoke a day after the Taliban announced that if the prisoner swap is concluded before the Muslim festival of Eid ul Adha starting July 31, the insurgent group was ready to engage in intra-Afghan talks immediately after the three-day festivities.
600 still held
But the Afghan government has refused to free a last set of about 600 insurgent prisoners, saying they were involved in serious crimes, including killing innocent Afghans. The Taliban have denounced the charges as baseless, saying Kabul is using “lame excuses” to delay the peace process.
Washington has also repeatedly urged the Afghan leadership to wind up the prisoner swap to pave the way for the peace talks. The Taliban have ruled out participation in the talks until all their 5,000 prisoners are set free.
Khalilzad said that the United States has been delivering on its commitments since signing the agreement with the Taliban and has been reducing the number of U.S. forces to the level of 8,600 personnel, as well as vacating five bases in Afghanistan.
The remaining American troops and their coalition partners are required to withdraw by July 2021.
“But the withdrawal is very much conditions-based and we will see whether the Taliban honor their commitments, because our decisions, our commitments, are contingent on their commitment,” Khalilzad said.
He elaborated that, among other commitments, the Taliban are required to prevent transnational terrorists from using insurgent-held Afghan territory for attacks against the U.S. and its allies. The insurgents, he added, have also committed to participate in the intra-Afghan talks and agree on “a comprehensive permanent cease-fire.”
Related
You sick *dogs; just,
love
to
see the
paid combatants get killed
under
your imposed savageries- all
on
expenses
of
the
lives of the young people
of
Afghanistan.
*
*GET OUT !!!!!
===
==
=
You
stupid invaders; all
have
mental illness- obviously;
severe
cases
of it !
^
*Unbelievable; right,
in
front
of
the
whole world- COWARDS !
*
Creating
killing fields
across the country .
*
*TURKEY AND *IRAN
===============
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOLD
THE
“ KEY”
to
PEACE
IN
AFGHANISTAN
•———————•
•———————•
*YES !
••••••••
Believe it or not- it won’t matter either, if
*you
like it or not !
==============
==============
Turkey and Iran
together,
have
the
*real key
to be able to
initiate
a
viable peace process
for
Afghanistan-
*************
BEYOND THE SHADOW
OF
ANY
DOUBT !
================
===========
=====
HERE
ARE THE
PROOFS !!!!!
================================
================================
—————-
—————-
—————-
GENERAL FACTS
============
============
.
Turkey :>—
((with a population
of
over 83 millions))
.
is
still,
((directly and/or indirectly))
heavily manipulated,
by
the
political games and displays
of
the
Western World.
.
Turkey have had
close diplomatic ties, with the west, especially, since the era
of
the
Westernized
Atta Turk. As a later
NATO member
it was obligated
to join the
Western alliance
by
taking
a nominal but, surely, an active
role
in
Western
military invasion
of
Afghanistan.
.
Turkey is host
to
many
important
Western military bases
and
most
Turkish
generals, are
educated and trained
in
the
West.
.
—————————————
—————————————
—————————————
Iran :>—
((with a population
of
over 83 millions))
.
Iran, ((which has a long
and
closely interactive
case history with
the
Western World)),
is
highly dependent
on
oil revenues
and
easy access
to
global markets
for its
urgently-needed
domestic consumptions and exports.
.
Tight embargoes and other forms
of
restrictions could easily disrupt
normal lives
for
the
ordinary local folks
inside
Iran. That is how the
Anglo/US allies, pull it all
against
Iran
on
their up and down
diplomatic interactions nowadays- which,
of coarse,
turns it always
flaky and unpredictable.
Iran, as a strategic
Middle Eastern country,
carries
considerable weights
in
politics
of
the
region and even beyond.
—————————————
—————————————
—————————————
—————————————
—————————————
ARGUMENTS :
******************
*********
*****
—————————————
There are more than
450 million
Muslims
living
in and around
Afghanistan; including nearby Turkey.
===========================
.,,,.Pakistan; more than 200 millions
…..Afghanistan; about…40 millions
…..Central Asia about….80 millions
…..Iran; more than………,83 millions
…,,Turkey; more than……83 millions;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-which
all
adds up to almost
half
a
billion- more than the combined population
of
the
US and Britain..
We all know that the Islamic leaders
of
Central Asia would never be able
to
help
initiate any independent
“peace initiative”
on
their own without the
Russian’s
approval- by the same toke,
it
is
well-known that Pakistani
politicians and field generals
are all
serving the exclusive nterests
of
their
Anglo/US overlords
=============
=============
We
can only
appeal directly
to
people of Pakistan and Central Asia
to
stand by the people
of
Afghanistan in regards
to
any facilitation
in getting
help
to be able to initiate any
civilized peace process that will bring
honor, peace and harmony
to
all the oppressed people
of
the region.
========
========
========
logically though;
Turkey and Iran
are the only
Islamic countries
that could be functional as an integral part
of
the equation that would
be able
to,
somehow, launch dialogues and persuade
the
Western
military and political leaderships
to
stop savage continuation
of
aggressive policies
and
seek honorable and impartial ways
to
seeks for find
a
workable route
for the
restoration
of
a
normal and civilized
environment
in
Afghanistan.
•
It is all obvious
that
the
Western military and political
megalomaniacs are
still heavily
counting
and
relying
on
a
unilateral war of attrition that, some how someday hopefully would magically
deliver them
to
the verge
a; so called,
“hypothetically unconditional victory”.
.
It is a case history which has always worked out
aa
a
last
resort
by
the
Western intense
International
“political and military involvements”
in
various hot spots around the globe.
which, ironically, had always been
aggressively and relentlessly
backed up
and
played out; specially,
at
their final
stages- obviously; all
on
expense of the local
innocent lives during various modern
times since the Second World War- Afghanistan
is
no exception
to
“the rule” !
===============================
===============================
.
Turkish and Iranian
unified and impartial stand
would definitely be the only way
to
encourage the
Western
military and political leaders to
formulate
a
realistic
“peace plan”.
It could really happen, if those two
populous Islamic countries
resolve their irrelevant
historic difference
and
voice
their sincere concerns
as one unified Islamic front.
We don’t want
to
see similar
naive approaches, by taking sides with the artificially Western-created
fanatic combatant
that led
to
destruction
of
“Great Syria”.
The foreign-imposed fanatics were used
to ignite
the
warfares and then
Turkey and Iran
were forced
to
actively take side
that then
led
to
further
destruction and division
of
proud ancient Syria.
===================
===================
===================
To
make it short; we
ask
all the
honorable
Muslim people
of
Great
*Turkey and *Iran
==================
“DIRECTly”
to
encourage their
governments
to
unify under one
“impartial umbrella”
for
the sake
of
restoration
of
a viable peaceful environment
for all
the
people
of
Afghanistan.
•