In a tough letter to Pakistan’s leaders in late May, he conditioned further cooperation on their meeting a long list of demands, including the immediate cutting of ties to the Afghan Taliban groups and the arrest of their leaders.
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Four civilians were wounded but no North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops were killed. A surge in attacks has taken a heavy toll on civilians, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan.
Analysts have suggested that the Taliban may want to delay formal peace talks in anticipation of a stronger negotiating position down the line.
China has said it wants to help facilitate reconciliation in Afghanistan, and in May it hosted a meeting between Afghanistan’s top peace envoy and ex- Taliban officials in the city of Urumqi, in Western China.
This time-bounded rapprochement is seemingly neither totally one-sided nor it is asymmetric concession, but it could be interpreted as an attempt to mend and balance relation between the two all-time rivals in pursuit of stabilization of Afghanistan.
During the talks both sides presented their stances on the prevailing situation in Afghanistan and how progress could be made.
Talks seen as “starting point”
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The talks, however, seemed to have pulled through, albeit only in the form of a start as of now.
The talks come as the Taliban make military gains in certain districts.
While the talks finally seeming possible is a major achievement, bottlenecks do remain.
And at another round of informal meetings in Qatar in May, activists said Taliban delegates, long condemned for their misogynistic ideology and lack of respect for human rights, pledged support for women’s education and their right to work in “male-dominated professions”. Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security and Pakistan’s ISI spy agency signed a cooperation agreement in May, despite deep mistrust of the ISI by many Afghans.
Stretched on multiple fronts and facing record casualties, Afghan forces are struggling to rein in the militants, and there are persistent fears that the Islamic State group is growing in influence in the country’s restive southeast. However, the Taliban office was reopened again in February 2015. Predictably, Pakistan has ignored Ghani’s ultimatums.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the talks as a “breakthrough” and said that the process had to succeed. “The United States commends the government of Afghanistan’s prioritization of peace and reconciliation efforts with the Taliban”.
Sources say a statement by the Taliban is expected later on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama had announced his intention to pull out all but 5,500 troops by year’s end. The Taliban, in turn, issued a statement vowing to continue fighting. “This is an important step in advancing prospects for a credible peace”, said White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest.
At least eight Pakistani security personnel were reportedly killed after the Afghan forces responded to their provocative action of building military installations within the Afghan soil.
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This view was echoed by Karzai’s associates who sat in on the interview. They were joined by deputy foreign minister Hekmat Karzai. The Taliban officially distanced itself from those talks. However, the location, public acknowledgment and face-to-face contact would be firsts for these talks.
