KABUL – Inside details of the third day of the peace talks between US andAfghan Taliban.
United States and the Taliban negotiators—on their third day ofnegotiations–have yet to agree on the terms of a reduction of violence,ceasefire and intra-Afghan negotiations.
Sources said the Taliban consider agreement on a ceasefire a prematuredecision and that they have only agreed on signing the agreement with theUS. Also, the sources said that based on this agreement, if signed, theTaliban will agree not to attack US bases within a distance of 10kilometers, TOLO News has reported.
The talks began on December 7 and are being carried out behind closed doors.
“The Taliban is insisting on an Islamic government and they are notnegotiating with the government of Afghanistan–as a government–and theyare not ready to announce a ceasefire at this stage,” freelance journalistSami Yousufzai said.
A government official said the two sides will discuss a reduction ofviolence, a ceasefire and an intra-Afghan negotiation in order to reachagreement on a peace deal.
Sources close to the Taliban said they hope the talks will yield a result.
“The agreement is almost final. Only a few issues remain that the two sidesare discussing and ceasefire is one of them,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, aformer Taliban commander. “Let’s see if there will be an agreement on thereduction of violence, ceasefire and intra-Afghan negotiations,” he said.