As war escalates in the cities, sources report the progress of peace talks in Doha. A source in the government’s negotiating team says the Taliban have agreed to start discussions on key issues. According to the source, the negotiating delegations are scheduled to discuss political participation, the constitution and the ceasefire. At the same time, the source emphasizes that the Taliban negotiating team sees peace talks as a second option and does not pursue it seriously. The source accused the Taliban of wasting the time for negotiations, saying that the Taliban were now more focused on the battlefield than in the peace talks. The Taliban also acknowledge that peace talks have entered a major discussion. The Taliban negotiating team, however, accuses the government of inciting war and says it has no serious will to make peace. Meanwhile, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani convened an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on Monday, urging the Taliban and its supporters to choose between peace or war. The president called on members of the National Assembly to support the government’s policies and mobilize the people against the Taliban.
Although the government has repeatedly called on the Taliban to start discussions on key issues, the group has so far refused to comply. The government recently sent a high-level delegation led by Abdullah Abdullah, Chair of the High Council for National Reconciliation, to Doha to discuss key issues such as political participation, mediation and a ceasefire. The talks, which took place behind closed doors for two days, were unsuccessful and the Taliban did not comply.
A source in the government’s negotiating team, who did not want to be named, told 8 Subh that discussions were under way and that the two sides had agreed to discuss key issues such as political participation, the constitution and the establishment of a ceasefire. He added that an agreement has been reached to speed up peace talks and start discussions on key issues. The source stressed that discussions should begin on these issues in order to prevent further civilian casualties in the country.
The source, however, criticized the Taliban negotiating team, saying that instead of starting discussions on key issues, the team had increased its focus on the battlefield and violence. According to the source, this shows the Taliban’s lack of commitment to advancing peace talks in the country. He said the Taliban had so far shown less flexibility and expected the government’s negotiating team to give in to their demands. The source further stated that the Taliban’s goal at the negotiating table was for everything to go their way. The source, however, noted that the government’s negotiating team has not yet complied with the Taliban’s demands and defended the values of the people.
The source, meanwhile, accused the Taliban of stalling the peace talks, saying that the families of the group’s negotiating team were in Doha, so instead of negotiating, they focused more on their personal affairs. According to him, the Taliban see peace talks as a secondary task and do not regularly discuss peace with the government’s negotiating team. According to him, these factors have also caused the peace talks to drag on and not have an effective result. “For the Taliban, their business is more important than peace,” he said. “They do not care how many people die. They do not even respect their own soldiers.”
At the same time, the Foreign Minister announced that two meetings on peace in Afghanistan would be held in Doha in the coming days. The meeting is attended by a number of countries in the region and beyond, and international organizations. Mohammad Hanif Atmar, in a meeting with representatives of a number of countries on Tuesday, August 3, said that in this meeting, the participants should explain to the Taliban to stop the war and reach a political agreement. He said the Taliban had intensified their attacks and killed thousands of civilians. The Foreign Minister stressed that the world should know that the Taliban are not only standing against the people and the government of Afghanistan, but also the region and the world that has united in support of the government.
The Taliban, meanwhile, accuse the government of inciting war and say the government has no will to make peace. Mohammad Naeem, spokesperson of the Taliban’s political bureau in Qatar, told 8 Subh that the two sides’ negotiating delegations had been holding a series of talks and had begun discussions on key issues in recent days. Mohammad Naeem, however, denied the issue of the ceasefire, saying that under the Doha Agreement, this would be established after an agreement on a new political system. He, meanwhile, criticized Ashraf Ghani’s new stance, saying the other side (the government) had declared war. According to him, the government has carried out airstrikes in different parts of the country in recent days.
Two days ago, the president warned the Taliban in an extraordinary session of the House of Representatives that if they did not make peace, they would face resistance from security forces and the government. He said he has developed an action plan and is implementing it. According to the president, with the implementation of this plan, the situation in the country will change in the next six months. In addition, the president referred to the national mobilization at the extraordinary session of the National Assembly and called on members of parliament to mobilize the people against the Taliban.
The Taliban have accused the government of continuing the war, which they say has intensified its attacks since the withdrawal of foreign troops. UNAMA and Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission have also said that Taliban attacks have increased since the withdrawal of foreign troops. The Human Rights Commission said in a report that in the first six months of this year alone, more than 1,600 civilians had been killed in Afghanistan, 56 percent of them by the Taliban.
