US envoy tasked to warn Taliban against takeover

Zalmay Khalilzad to hold crunch talks with Taliban in Doha this week in quest for peace in Afghanistan

KABUL: A US peace envoy was back in West Asia on Tuesday to warn the Taliban insurgents against pursuing a military victory on the ground and deliver a blunt message - a Taliban government that comes to power through force in Afghanistan will not be recognised.

The US state department said Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy, was in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to “help formulate a joint international response to the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan”.

The development comes amid a weeks-long, relentless Taliban offensive as American and Nato forces finalise their pull-out from war-torn Afghanistan.

The insurgents have captured five out of 34 provincial capitals in the country in less than a week. They are now battling the Western-backed government for control of three others, including the city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, and the city of Kandahar, the capital in neighbouring Kandahar

province.

The militants’ sweep comes despite condemnations by the international community and the Taliban’s refusal to return to the negotiating table.

Khalilzad is tasked with “pressing the Taliban to stop their military offensive and to negotiate a political settlement, which is the only path to stability and development in Afghanistan”, the state department said.

The Taliban military chief released an audio message to his fighters on Tuesday, ordering them not to harm Afghan forces in territories they conquer. The recording was shared on Twitter by the Taliban spokesman in Doha, Mohammad Naim.

There have also been reports of revenge killings in areas where the Taliban have gained control. The insurgents have also claimed responsibility for killing a comedian in southern Kandahar, assassinating the government’s media chief in Kabul and a bombing that targeted acting defence minister Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, killing eight and wounding more.

The intensifying war has also increased the number of civilian casualties. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that its staff has treated more than 4,000 Afghans this month in their 15 facilities across the country, including in Helmand and Kandahar, where Afghan and US airstrikes are trying to rein in the Taliban onslaught.