KARACHI – As both sides have brought new demands to closed-door meetings,the U.S. and the Taliban are struggling to find ways to resume peace talksto end the war in Afghanistan, say both officials and local analysts.
A 12-member delegation of the Afghan Taliban political office in Dohaarrived in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on Wednesday at the invitation ofthe government, the first-ever visit of a Taliban delegation there sincethe insurgents established their political office in Qatar in 2013.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the special U.S. envoy for Afghan reconciliation, alongwith his team had already arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday before theTaliban delegation.
A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official confirmed “at least onemeeting” between Khalilzad and the Taliban delegation led by the militia’sdeputy chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, “to discuss different ways toresume the talks.”
“The two sides haven’t reached any decision. The deadlock is still there,but both [sides] have vowed to break the deadlock,” the official toldAnadolu Agency but declined to be identified as he was not authorized topublicly speak on the matter.
“Another meeting is expected in a day or two after both sides completetheir homework on different formulas discussed in the first meeting” onFriday, he added.
The two sides, he asserted, had come up with new demands, with Washingtondemanding a “total” cease-fire in the war-wracked country, and inclusion ofthe fragile Kabul government in the peace process — both conditions theTaliban has time and again rejected.
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The Taliban, for their part, the official said, had sought a “guaranteefrom the highest level” in Washington on implementation of the talks’outcome.
“The Taliban have refused to accept the two U.S. demands, and want theprocess to be resumed from right where it broke off,” he said, “whileWashington wants a fresh start, particularly with respect to its twodemands.”
On Sept. 9, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a meeting withrepresentatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban at the U.S. CampDavid retreat.
Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban “dead” following a recentattack in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul which killed a dozen people,including a U.S. service member.
Following the U.S. move, the Taliban opened new battle fronts across thewar-torn nation, as Afghan security forces — suffering casualties anddesertions — struggle to beat back a revitalized insurgency.
