WorlPosted at: Jul 25 2021 10:28PM Another round of Afghan peace talks in Doha in August
Kabul, Jul 25 (UNI) With the Doha peace negotiations failing to make any headway, senior representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban will be meeting again at the beginning of August for another round of talks, Tolo News reported.
At the first meeting, held on July 16 -17, the Afghan delegation was led by head of the High Council for National Reconciliation Mr Abdullah Abdullah.
The two sides had failed to arrive at an agreement on a ceasefire, but they agreed to continue their meetings and push for peace.
Tolo News, quoting sources, said that efforts will be made through such meetings to achieve a framework for peace talks, with the US withdrawal of forces expected to be completed by August 31.
“It will be helpful if an authoritative team attends the meeting this time, but if the delegation has less authority, it will not have an outcome,” former Taliban commander Sayed Akbar Agha told the news agency.
The efforts for peace come as fighting between the Afghan government forces and the Taliban rages across the country, and has led to large swathes of territory falling under the Taliban sway.
Abdullah Abdullah has said the conflict in Afghanistan has no military solution.
The move for another round of talks comes as the Taliban are reported to have killed 43 civilians and security forces in Malistan district in the central province of Ghazni.
According to Tolonews, among those killed were two young men who were leaving the area with their families and were not government employees or security force members, the father of one of the victims said.
“Taliban fighters after entering Malistan district committed war crimes and killed civilians who were not involved in the fighting. They attacked people’s homes and after looting their property, they burned residential houses,” said Mina Naderi, a civil society activist from Ghazni, who read a joint statement from Malistan residents at a press conference in Kabul on Sunday.
“In the center of Malistan district, they (Taliban) also destroyed and looted shops,” she added.
According to Tolonews, at least 3,000 people have been displaced from Malistan district in the last 10 days following the Taliban attack.
Some of the residents who have fled to Kabul said they have lost their family members in Taliban attacks, while others said their homes were damaged and destroyed in the fighting, forcing them to flee.
The displaced residents of Malistan claimed that Taliban fighters collected food from homes in the district and announced that they would treat people, especially women, based on “Islamic emirate” rules.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government has imposed a night-time curfew in 31 provinces except Kabul, Panjshir and Nangarhar, in the wake of the unabated Taliban attacks.
The curfew will be effective between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., Tolonews said quoting the Ministry of Interior.
The new measure comes as the government forces continue to battle the Taliban in 21 provinces of the country.
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