US, Taliban make ‘headway’ in peace talks
KABUL: The United States and the Taliban have resolved differences in peace talks over the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and guarantees from the insurgents that they will cut ties with other extremist groups, a Taliban official said on Tuesday.
The US side did not immediately provide details about the latest round of talks held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. But Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy who has been leading the talks since they began late last year, tweeted that they had made “excellent progress.”
The two sides have been meeting for the last two days, and technical teams were continuing discussions on Tuesday in Doha. The Taliban official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss details of the negotiations.
Khalilzad, who has been tasked with finding a peaceful resolution to the nearly 18-year war — America’s longest conflict — has made intra-afghan talks and a permanent ceasefire priorities in the negotiations. But the Taliban have continued to sideline the Kabul government, dismissing it as a US puppet and refusing to recognise it.
The Taliban have kept up a near-daily rate of deadly atacks, despite holding several rounds of peace talks with Khalilzad since his appointment almost a year ago. The Taliban now control roughly half of Afghanistan and are at their strongest since 2001, when the Us-led invasion toppled their government ater it harboured Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
The US and the Taliban now appear to be closing in on an agreement under which US forces would withdraw in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not become a haven for other terrorist groups.
Khalilzad has said he is hoping for a final agreement by Sept.1 that would allow the roughly 20,000 US and Nato forces to leave.
Meanwhile, Taliban warned Afghans to keep away from election rallies and ordered its fighters to “stand against” the planned September vote. The militants and other insurgent groups conducted frequent atacks during previous elections, and this year’s campaign season has already been rocked by deadly violence.
Many observers think the poll will be postponed again — it has already been pushed back twice this year — to create space for a peace deal to be finalised between the US and the Taliban.