Council OKs key step for peace talks with Taliban
KABUL — A traditional Afghan council concluded Sunday with hundreds of delegates agreeing to free 400 Taliban members, paving the way for an early start to negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring sides.
The declaration calls for an immediate start to negotiations and a ceasefire. The move looks to bring the United States closer to bringing home its troops and ending its longest military engagement.
No date has been set, but negotiations between Kabul’s political leadership and the Taliban are expected to begin soon and will most likely be held in the Mideast state of Qatar, where the Taliban maintains a political office.
The Afghan negotiations were laid out in a peace deal signed by the U.S. and the Taliban in February. At the time of its signing it was touted as Afghanistan’s best chance at ending decades of war.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani praised delegates for their decision and urged the Taliban to stop fighting. Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the decision “was a good step, a positive step.” He said negotiations could start within one week of their prisoners being freed.
As for a ceasefire, Shaheen said the Taliban was committed to the deal it struck with the U.S., and according to that deal “the ceasefire will be one of the items to be discussed during the intraAfghan negotiations.”
On Sunday afternoon, an explosive devise hidden in a cart killed two people in Kabul. The spokesman for the capital’s police, Firdus Faramarz, said police were trying to remove the device when it exploded. Five police were injured.
A recent spike in violence in Afghanistan has been mostly attributed to the Islamic State affiliate, whom the Taliban are fighting, as are the Afghan government and
U.S. forces. Previously a U.S. Department of Defense official said Washington considered Islamic State its biggest threat in Afghanistan, and wanted a deal that would recruit the Taliban in a coordinated fight against it.
Delegates were urged by the U.S. at the start of the council, known as Loya Jirga, on Friday to take “this difficult action” so negotiations could begin to bring an end to the war.
“To remove obstacle, to start peace talks and to stop the bloodshed, the Jirga confirms the release of 400 Taliban prisoners,” said Atefa Tayeb, a council secretary who read out the final declaration at the conclusion.
Kabul balked at the release, but eventually freed all but the last 400. President Ghani said he was not authorized to free these because of the seriousness of their crimes, and asked for the council to decide instead.