Citing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, U.S. media reports say that Afghanistan is getting closer to holding peace talks with the Taliban.
Ms. Haley said Wednesday after travelling to Kabul at the weekend with the U.N. Security Council that the Trump administration’s policy in Afghanistan is working, saying talks between the government and Taliban extremists, and a peace process, are closer than ever before, according to The Washington Post.
Kazakhstan’s U.N. Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the current council president who led the trip, reportedly said members were concerned “with the persistence of insecurity, especially with the intensification of terrorist activities in the north and east of Afghanistan and the regrouping of foreign terrorist fighters coming out of Syria and Iraq in Afghanistan.”
He said the council urged the intensification of peace and reconciliation efforts, “knowing that the military solution cannot be sufficient without the political process.”
Umarov said members also stressed the importance of sticking to the electoral calendar which calls for elections for parliament and district officials this year and president next year.
The council visit followed the Trump administration’s announcement this month that it was suspending military aid to Pakistan until it takes decisive action against militants.
Reuters says that a delegation approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader visited the Pakistani capital this week for exploratory talks on restarting peace negotiations to end Afghanistan’s 16-year war.
The Islamabad talks on Monday reportedly followed another back-channel meeting over the weekend in Turkey between individuals with Taliban connections and representatives of Hizb-i-Islami, the party of a former Taliban-allied commander who last year laid down arms to join Afghan politics.
A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday he was not aware of the Islamabad talks, while the Taliban did not respond to queries. Both sides on Monday denied participating in the Turkey talks, Reuters said.
However, two senior Taliban officials reportedly said on condition of anonymity that supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada had approved Monday’s exploratory meeting in Islamabad on restarting talks to end the war that kills thousands of Afghans each year.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the Turkey meeting had no legitimate Taliban representatives in attendance, Reuters noted.
Washington has piled pressure on to Pakistan to persuade the insurgents’ leaders to negotiate as well as crack down on alleged Taliban safe havens inside the country – tactics that Pakistan has said are incompatible.
Under a new strategy announced last year, the United States has stepped up air strikes and boosted assistance to Afghan government forces fighting the Taliban to try to break a stalemate and force the insurgents to the negotiating table.
