KABUL - Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum on Friday said that he strongly supports the peace talks with the Taliban, but said that the Taliban are not as strong as some might think.
Dostum said that he has doubts about the peace process, but insisted that there was no military solution to the conflict in the country.
“The Taliban are not as powerful as some think they are...the Taliban have hundreds of problems internally,” said Dostum.
He said that the Taliban will not be able to win the war militarily and suggests the group gives diplomacy a chance and finds a solution through the peace negotiations.
“Even if peace leads to war, or an Islamic emirate is formed by the Taliban the same as their former structure or if they announce an emirate, they can never win militarily,” said Dostum.
Dostum’s remarks come as Afghanistan’s negotiating team on Friday left the country for Doha to attend the direct peace talks with the Taliban. The opening ceremony of the talks will be attended by Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other high-ranking officials.
We are going to tell the Taliban that you (Taliban) will not be able to win through this path (war), Afghanistan is a common house for everyone, the way has been paved for reconciliation and partnership,” said Abdul Hafiz Mansour, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban.
“The Afghan delegation has all the necessary criteria, they are fully prepared from a political, religious and technical perspective,” said Attaullah Ludin, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban. On Thursday, Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban delegation, said in a tweet that the opening meeting of the intra-Afghan talks is scheduled for September 12th in Qatar. (TOLO NEWS)