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KABUL—Afghanistan’s authorities and the Taliban are set to start their first-ever direct talks subsequent week towards ending almost twenty years of combating, after the U.S. signed a cope with the rebel group to extricate America from its longest conflict.
Representatives of the warring factions are anticipated to convene as early as Monday in Qatar’s capital to agree on a street map for reconciliation, officers mentioned. Doha was additionally the venue for the signing of the U.S.-Taliban accord in February,
The Afghan authorities is prioritizing an instantaneous cease-fire, whereas the Taliban is probably going to concentrate on a power-sharing association and a transitional authorities.
The talks replicate a concerted push to finish a conflict that started with the U.S.-led invasion in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist assaults that al Qaeda orchestrated from Taliban sanctuary in Afghanistan. The battle has claimed greater than 90,000 Afghan lives, displaced tens of hundreds of individuals and destroyed faculties, hospitals and different important infrastructure. About a 3rd of Afghans want pressing humanitarian help, the United Nations has mentioned.
But negotiations are anticipated to be tumultuous and drawn-out over a number of phases in assorted venues—going through quite a few challenges, as seen with a latest trade of prisoners.
Intra-Afghan talks have been supposed to start shortly after the February signing, however have been delayed by disagreements over one other clause within the accord—a swap of 5,000 Taliban prisoners for 1,000 safety forces held by the insurgents.
On Thursday, Afghanistan’s National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal mentioned Kabul had launched the remaining 400 Taliban detainees in its custody, “except the few for which our partners have reservations.”
France and Australia have objected to the discharge of seven of them, members of the Afghan National Security Forces who have been arrested on prices of attacking international troops they have been working with. An Afghan official mentioned one possibility is to switch them to home arrest in Qatar, the place the Taliban maintains a political workplace, earlier than the talks start.
Mr. Faisal tweeted that diplomatic efforts have been ongoing and that direct talks have been anticipated to begin promptly in Qatar.
The Taliban couldn’t be instantly reached for remark. The group hasn’t publicly commented on the talks, which might face one other delay in the event that they insist on the discharge of all their members.
The U.S.-Taliban accord was hailed by all events as an opportunity for Afghanistan to carry an finish to 19 years of combating. It referred to as for the U.S. to pull all its forces out of Afghanistan over the following 14 months in trade for the Taliban pledging to forestall militant teams like al Qaeda from utilizing the nation to plan strikes on the West and to talk about a long-term cease-fire with the Afghan authorities.
President Trump is anticipated to nominate William Ruger as ambassador to the nation, in accordance to individuals aware of the matter. Officials view the decide because the president’s approach of signaling his intent to make good on his marketing campaign promise to sharply cut back the U.S. presence within the area, the individuals mentioned.
The U.S. presently has about 8,000 troops in Afghanistan. The Pentagon plans to carry that quantity down to about 5,000 or fewer by this fall, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
But there are fears that if the U.S. pulls out most of its troops as agreed, the federal government would lose leverage and Afghanistan might descend deeper into battle. It would additionally permit the Taliban to lengthen affect throughout Afghanistan and whittle away on the progress the nation has made in ladies’s rights and social freedoms.
“The Taliban has the luxury of time,” mentioned Michael Kugelman, senior analysis affiliate for South Asia on the Wilson Center, a nonprofit suppose tank in Washington. “It knows U.S. troops are leaving and it can do some shopping, come to the table, see what’s on offer and if it doesn’t like what it’s hearing it can just return to the fight.”
Islamic State, which is a rival to the Taliban, additionally stays a risk, as evidenced by an assault final month in jap Afghanistan that killed no less than 29 individuals and allowed quite a few inmates to escape from a jail holding a whole bunch of militants from the group.
Although intra-Afghan negotiations might drag out for years, Washington is raring for fast progress.
“The U.S. government believes the optics of a military withdrawal when peace talks are making good progress are a lot better than U.S. troops heading for the exit with no reason to believe peace talks are going anywhere,” Mr. Kugelman mentioned.
“If this peace process doesn’t work, there’s no logical next step except return to a war,” he added.
Write to Stephen Kalin at [email protected]
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