KABUL: The Taliban urged the United States on Monday to begin talks to endalmost 17 years of war in Afghanistan, adding to a series of signals thatsuggest a greater willingness to explore options for dialogue.
In its statement, two days before the start of a meeting of regionalleaders in Kabul to discuss ways of ending the war, the movement said itwanted a peaceful resolution.
“The Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls onAmerican officials to talk directly to the Political Office of IslamicEmirate regarding a peaceful solution to the Afghan quandary,” it said.
“It would help in finding a solution if America accepts the legitimatedemands of the Afghan people and [puts] forward its own concerns andrequests for discussion to the Islamic Emirate through a peaceful channel,”it said.
The statement referred to reported comments by Alice Wells, the PrincipalDeputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Southand Central Asian Affairs, that the “door is open” for talks with theTaliban.
Less than two weeks ago, the Taliban issued a statement saying theypreferred to “solve the Afghan issue through peaceful dialogue”.
The United States last year stepped up its military assistance toAfghanistan, notably through a sharp increase in air strikes, with the aimof breaking a stalemate with the insurgents and forcing them to thenegotiating table.
While the U.S. military says the strategy has hit the Taliban hard, theystill control or contest much of the country. They also claimedresponsibility for two major attacks in Kabul last month that killed orwounded hundreds of civilians and shook public confidence in theWestern-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani.
U.S. officials say the only option for an end to the war is a negotiatedsettlement between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
In an interview this week with Voice of America, Wells said the nextmeeting in the so-called “Kabul process”, beginning on Wednesday, would aimto make clear that there was the potential for dialogue.
“I‘m confident that the conference is going to push forward regionalefforts to enforce what has been our most important message to the Taliban- that the door is open, there is a path to peace and stability,” she said.
But while all sides say they want a peaceful solution and there have beenbehind-the-scenes contacts, the only major peace talks broke down almostimmediately after they started in 2015.
The Taliban, fighting to restore their version of strict sharia law sincethey were driven from power in Kabul by a U.S.-led campaign in 2001, havein the past insisted that international forces must leave Afghanistan as aprecondition for talks. AGENCIES