ISLAMABAD
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Monday to discuss issues related to Afghan peace talks with the Pakistan leadership.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss Afghan Reconciliation Process among other matters, the military’s media wing said Monday.
Khalilzad, who had attended the inaugural sessions of Doha dialogue between the Afghan government and Taliban, is accompanied by a three-member delegation of senior US officials. He and his team will hold consultations with Pakistan’s top political and military leaders on the reconciliation process.
Observers believe Khalilzad and US officials will ask Pakistan, specifically its military leadership, to influence the insurgents to give up violence, show flexibility in their stance and agree for a truce.
The US envoy, according to sources, would also discuss with Pakistani leaders the next phase of the peace process.
During the Doha talks, known as intra-Afghan negotiations, representatives of the two sides accused each other of staging fresh battlefield attacks. Officials in Afghanistan said that contrary to their expectations, the start of the peace dialogue in Doha had not reduced the insurgent violence.
Scores of people were reportedly killed in clashes between the Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents, including combatants from both sides and civilians, on Saturday and Sunday. “Unfortunately, the level of Taliban violence and offensive attacks on ANDSF (Afghan National Defense and Security Forces) and Afghan civilians have not decreased,” said Fawad Aman, Afghan defense ministry’s spokesperson.
Ending the violence in Afghanistan remains a major challenge for the negotiating teams of the Taliban and the Kabul government.
The Afghan government, the US and allies have stressed on a truce with the Taliban but the start of the peace dialogue in Doha had not reduced the insurgent violence.
The Taliban, however, did not mention a truce as they came to the negotiating table. Taliban officials insisted that establishment of “an Islamic government” in Afghanistan and release of thousands of insurgent prisoners from government custody are the priority issues for them.
Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi tweeted on Monday that the presence of government negotiators at the talks “is aimed at achieving a ceasefire, ending the violence and ensuring lasting peace and stability in the country.”
The head of the peace process for the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, had earlier suggested the Taliban could offer a ceasefire in exchange for the release of more of their imprisoned fighters.
Earlier this year, the US and Taliban had also signed an agreement, binding the insurgents not to attack US-led foreign troops and to prevent terrorists from using Afghan soil for international attacks.
The accord also required the Taliban to seek a negotiated settlement to the war with rival Afghan groups.
In return, the US had promised that all American and allied troops would leave Afghanistan by May 2021 if the conditions outlined in the February 29 agreement were met by the other side.
Following the pact, Washington had reduced the number of its troops to 8,600, down from around 13,000, and intended to cut the size of the US force to around 4,500 by November this year
