Afghan, Taliban representatives meet in Qatar
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan government officials and Taliban militants began two days of meetings on Sunday in the Gulf state of Qatar, and for once neither side denied that the sessions were taking place.
Both were also quick to insist that they were not holding peace talks. A statement by the Taliban called the meetings a “research conference,” while Afghan government officials described them as “scientific discussions.”
Still, the talks are being hosted by the Pugwash Conferences, a Nobel Prize-winning science group dedicated to promoting peace, and expectations were high despite the official demurrals.
“These are not peace talks. But it would be fair to say that this is the most encouraging development we’ve seen in a while,” said Muhammad Ismail Qasimyar, the foreign policy committee chief at the Afghan government’s High Peace Council. “After all, peace talks between China and America started with a ping-pong game.”
Many of the figures sent by the Afghan government and the Taliban — ethnic and government leaders, and top extremist officials, respectively — were the sort who would be likely to participate in any formal peace talks. In addition, according to Afghan news accounts, Pakistan and other regional players also sent representatives.
This is not the first such Pugwash Conference, and there have been other Tier Two talks, as indirect, non-negotiating meetings between the two sides have been termed. But in the past, such talks were held under a cloak of secrecy, and actual peace discussions between representatives of the government and the Taliban were routinely denied when news of them became public.
It was unclear whether there would be any official announcement from the Afghan government during or after the talks, which are expected to conclude after a second day today. But the Taliban’s news release added that “a statement for participation in the conference has also been prepared which will be shared with our respected readers at an appropriate time.”
Afghan security forces are suffering record casualties in their first battles against the Taliban since the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ended in December after more than 13 years.
The number of killed and wounded so far this year is about 70 percent higher than during the same period last year, said Brian Tribus, director of public affairs for NATO’s Afghanistan mission.
Some 4,950 Afghan army and police personnel were killed or wounded in the first 15 weeks of 2015, against 2,900 during the same period a year ago, said a coalition military officer not authorized to speak publicly about the losses.
Disclosure of the increasing casualty rates comes amid stepped-up Taliban attacks in the country’s northern provinces of Kunduz and Badakhshan, sensing an opportunity in the U.S.-led coalition’s pullback.