Calls for ‘urgent end’ to Taliban offensive in Afghanistan

MORE than a dozen diplomatic missions in Afghanistan yesterday called for “an urgent end” to the Taliban’s ruthless military offensive, saying it was at odds with claims they wanted to secure a political deal to end the conflict.

The statement – signed by the US, EU, and more than a dozen other missions in Kabul – follows another round of talks in Doha over the weekend between the Afghan government and the Taliban that many hoped would kick-start the ailing peace process. “The Taliban’s offensive is in direct contradiction to their claim to support a negotiated settlement,” it read.

“It has resulted in the loss of innocent Afghan lives, including through continued targeted killings, displacement of the civilian population, looting and burning of buildings, destruction of vital infrastructure, and damage to communication networks.”

For months, the two sides have been meeting on and off in the Qatari capital, but have achieved little, if any, notable success – with the discussions appearing to have lost momentum as the militants made enormous battlefield gains.

A joint statement released late on Sunday said little more than they had agreed on the need to reach a “just solution”, and to meet again next week. “We also agreed that there should be no pause in the negotiations,” Abdullah Abdullah, who oversees the Afghan government’s delegation, said yesterday.

He noted, however, that neither side was currently pursuing a joint ceasefire during the talks, despite urgent calls from Afghan civil society and the international community to end the surge in fighting.

On the heels of the weekend summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his administration was also hoping to start talks with the Taliban over the group’s refusal to let Ankara run the Kabul airport after US troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

“We will see what kind of talks we will have with the Taliban and see where these talks take us,” Erdogan told journalists in Istanbul yesterday.

Turkey has been negotiating with US defence officials over an offer to secure Kabul airport, which is key to allowing countries to retain a diplomatic presence in the war-torn country after the troop withdrawal.