New Delhi (NVI) The much-awaited Afghan peace talks, that were scheduled to take place in March this year, will begin in Qatar from tomorrow as a 21-member team from Afghanistan left for Doha this afternoon to sit across the table with the Taliban and discuss the future of the country.
The 21-member negotiating team is led by Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, reports TOLO news. All members of the negotiating team called Saturday a historic day for the country and said they remain hopeful for the results of the talks.
The Afghan government released the last batch of six Taliban prisoners yesterday and transferred them to Doha. However, France and Australia had opposed the release of these six of the 400 controversial prisoners of the Taliban, the Afghan news portal reports.
However, the announcement of the start of the talks was widely welcomed by Afghanistan’s international allies.
The talks are the next and significant step towards restoring peace in the country, after the US-Taliban agreement on the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
This will also be the first time that the Taliban, which does not recognise the Afghan government, will sit across the table with government and other delegates to find a possible soultion to end years of conflict.
The opening ceremony of the talks will be held on Saturday while the negotiations will begin on Monday, reports TOLO news, quoting an official from the High Council for National Reconciliation.
The talks also come days after an assassination attempt on Afghan vice-president Amrullah Saleh, second in two years. His convoy was targetted in Kabul on Wednesday as 10 people including bystanders were killed in the deadly blast. The attack was widely seen as a bid to derail the talks.
The incident took place two days after the former intelligence chief raised the issue of Durand Line and talked about Peshawar as the summer capital of Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Saleh has said that it will be “one of the most difficult peace negotiations in history”.
Taliban has increased its attacks since it signed a deal with the US on February 29, which mainly provided for the exit of American forces from the war-torn country. The Taliban attacks have increased despite its commitment to the reduction of violence.
In view of the surge in Taliban attacks, President Ashraf Ghani had ordered the forces to go on an offensive against the outfit. After the order, a number of Taliban terrorists were killed by Afghan forces in retaliatory attacks.
-ARK
