‘Peace deal with Taliban is conditions-based agreement’

ary 22, ends what was a welcome reprieve for ordinary Afghans who have born the brunt of the deadly violence.

But experts said the move was unsurprising as both sides seek to exploit whatever leverage they hold to force the other's hand.

"Of course violence will go up, was bound to happen. no surprise Ghani balking on prisoner release: 1 of his few levers," Vanda Felbab-brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, tweeted.

Kabul-based analyst Ahmad Saeedi said the uptick in attacks reflected the insurgents' belief that "they have to keep the battlefield hot to be able to win on the negotiating table, as they did with the Americans."

Ghani's government last week sent a delegation to Qatar to open "initial contacts" with the insurgents but Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen on Tuesday said the militants would not meet Kabul's representatives except to discuss the release of their captives.

WASHINGTON DC: The peace deal signed with the Taliban in Doha over the weekend is a conditions-based agreement, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has said, reiterating that this is an important first step towards a political solution to end the war in Afghanistan.

After 18 years of war, the US and the Taliban signed the peace deal in Doha on Saturday to facilitate intra-afghan dialogue in Oslo this month and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan in 14 months.

"This was an important first step toward a political solution to end the war in Afghanistan. As I reiterated to our Afghan partners, this is a conditionsbased agreement," Esper said.