Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Afghan Officials Meet Taliban in Pakistan

Afghan Officials Meet Taliban in Pakistan

KANDAHAR - Afghan officials are holding talks with the Taliban in Pakistan, the head of a provincial peace council in the insurgency's heartland Kandahar said on Tuesday, in a possible signal that Islamabad is boosting its support for Afghan peace efforts.
Kandahar peace council head Ata Mohammad Ahmadi told Reuters the officials have been meeting for "some time" with mid-level Taliban commander in the southwest Pakistani city of Quetta, where the leadership of the militant group is said to be based.

"In the last 10 days, our peace council delegation have gone to Quetta three times in twos and threes," he said.
President Hamid Karzai's government has repeatedly called on regional power Pakistan to support its efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

"We are very optimistic about President Karzai's recent trip to Pakistan and that may have opened the door," Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of High Peace Council - tasked with reaching out to insurgents - told Reuters.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Karzai said:"While emphasizing the importance of Pakistan's support for the peace process, I hereby request our brotherly government of Pakistan to support and facilitate our direct negotiation efforts as part of the peace process."

The Kabul government believes they would be the decision makers in any substantive peace negotiations aimed at ending the war now in its eleventh year.

It is unlikely that any meetings between Afghan officials and Taliban commanders could take place in Quetta without the knowledge of Pakistan's pervasive intelligence agencies.

Pakistan may have stepped up its cooperation with the Afghan government by allowing what Ahmadi said were meetings in Quetta. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment.

It was unclear if the reported Quetta meetings were part of broad Afghan government efforts to bring the Taliban into peace talks under the 70-member High Peace Council set up by Karzai. (Reuters)