New York, July 9 (IBNS) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his Special Representative in Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom have welcomed direct talks held between Afghan Government and Taliban representatives in Islamabad, Pakistan â urging both parties to move towards reconciliation and peace.
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A four-member delegation headed by Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai represented the Afghan government in the talks.
The timing of the drone strike is significant as it came a day after Pakistan hosted talks between Afghan official and Taliban militants.
The Pakistan and the Afghan government statements did not mention any of the participants by name.
“Members of the Qatar office have the authority to pursue political process and no one [else] has this mandate”. Their goal is to lay the groundwork for formal peace negotiations, reported by a senior Afghan official.
Joyanda, a communications and research expert, said if the Taliban were honest they should have sent their top leaders to the talks. Even there, intermittent efforts to establish such talks have largely faltered.
RSF also added that Taliban and other armed groups are unfortunately not the only ones who target the media but the warlords, local politicians and government forces also help to create a climate of fear created to keep journalists at a distance, especially during military operations.
Taliban insurgents seek to create Sharia states based on Islamic law in Afghanistan and Pakistan, whereas ISIS militants want to create a global caliphate, according toReuters.
Two senior Pakistani militants who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State were among at least 24 people killed in a USA drone strike in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, Pakistani and Afghan security officials said on Thursday.
The Taliban, Haqqani Network and Hezb-e-Islami are considered to be persistent perpetrators of violations against children in Afghanistan, and all three groups have been listed as such since 2007 in the UN Secretary-General’s global Annual Report on children and armed conflict.
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Achin and Mena districts have been a hotbed of alleged Islamic State activity since the group began making inroads into Afghanistan, Haji Alam Shah, a tribal leader in Achin, said Thursday.
