KABUL – A fresh round of violence gripped Afghanistan on Saturday andexplosions shattered weeks of relative calm in the capital Kabul, one dayafter the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive. The bloodshed comes as the US pushes for a peacesettlement with the Taliban, and ahead of a new round of talks expected totake place in Qatar later this month.
In one assault, Taliban attackers were reported around the edges of thenorthern city of Kunduz, which the militants briefly captured in 2015.
Naeem Mangal, head of the Kunduz regional hospital, told AFP at leasteight people were killed and 62 wounded.
The Taliban takeover of Kunduz in 2015 shocked observers, and marked thefirst time since their ouster in 2001 that they had been able to conquer amajor city.
Late Saturday in Kabul, a central police station came under attack in thefirst major incident of its kind in several weeks.
Ministry of the Interior spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said at least one personwas killed and six others wounded when two hand grenades were thrown at amilitary vehicle. No one immediately claimed responsibility.
After nearly 18 years of war, the US is trying to forge a settlement withthe Taliban, and President Donald Trump is impatient for some sort ofresolution.
US officials have already met several times with the Taliban and furthertalks are expected in the Qatari capital Doha later this month.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wants to send a delegation to “exchangeviews” with the Taliban, but even the process of picking delegates hasbecome bogged down with squabbling and delays.
The Taliban have long refused to speak officially with Kabul, dubbing thegovernment a “puppet” of the West, and the militants have insisted thatgovernment officials are attending only in a “personal capacity”.
– Ongoing clashes –
In Ghor province in the west, at least seven Afghan security forces werekilled in a Taliban ambush, Ghor provincial governor spokesman Abdul HaiKhatibi told AFP.
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And the Taliban said they had conducted a truck bomb attack in the Shirzaddistrict of the eastern province Nangarhar late Friday, claiming to havekilled or wounded “more than 200 soldiers, police and militias”.
The insurgents frequently exaggerate numbers. Nangarhar provincialgovernor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said two Afghan troops had beenkilled, along with 27 Taliban fighters.
The violence came hours after the Taliban announced the start of OperationFath, the name the militants have given to this year’s spring offensive.
“Both sides have sustained casualties,” the Afghan defence ministry said.”Clashes are ongoing between (Afghan security forces) and Talibanterrorists.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s palace on Saturday condemned “in thestrongest words” the announcement of Operation Fath. “The continuation of war is no one’s interest,” thepalace said.
The spring offensive traditionally marks the start of the so-calledfighting season, though fighting nowadays continues unabated throughout theyear.
The Taliban blamed Ghani’s government and the US for the violence, accusingthem of the indiscriminate killing of civilians in a bombing campaign.
“We also want to clarify that we are committed to the ongoing negotiationsprocess and a peaceful resolution but cannot remain indifferent to themilitary operations and ongoing crimes of the invaders and their internalsupporters,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
To facilitate travel to Doha, the United Nations has lifted travel bans for11 Taliban delegates, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a cofounder ofthe Islamist movement and its top political leader, as well as SherMohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s former deputy minister of foreignaffairs.
“The requested exemption is solely for travels required for participationin peace and reconciliation discussions,” the UN Security Council said. -APP/AFP
