Kabul plans new truce in bid to kickstart peace talks

The Afghan government plans to announce a second cease-fire with the Taliban during a major Muslim holiday in August as part of an effort to kick-start peace talks involving the US, the militant group and the government, Afghan and US officials working on the process told The Wall Street Journal.
The Taliban have long said the US is responsible for the hostilities and should be the main negotiating partner. For years, the US has insisted any process should be strictly between the Afghan government and the insurgents.
That calculation is changing in Washington. US officials fear President Donald Trump may have limited patience for the 17-year war in Afghanistan and withdraw troops without a resolution. A recent breakthrough involving June’s cease-fire has heightened the perception that peace is within grasp, said the paper in a report.
“By negotiating directly, we should stop kicking the can down the road,” said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, at a recent hearing on Afghanistan. “The Taliban claim that they will completely separate themselves from international terrorism and respect the rights of women and minorities. It’s time to see if they’re serious.”
On Monday, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of the American-led international coalition in Afghanistan, was emphatic about US openness to any initiative that would revive a process leading to a political settlement of the war.
Citing a change in strategy unveiled by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo following the June cease-fire, Gen. Nicholson said in the southern city of Kandahar that the US was ready to discuss with the Taliban the role of international forces in the country’s conflict.
Late Monday, the commander said any American discussions with the Taliban wouldn’t occur at the expense of the Afghan government.
“The United States is not a substitute for the Afghan people or the Afghan government,” he said.
June’s cease-fire—which ended when the Taliban called for fighting to resume after the Eid holiday—saw fighters from both sides openly embrace and mingle in cities, towns and villages across the country. The images shared widely on social media provided a tantalizing taste of peace in a country that has experienced close to four decades of relentless conflict.
Officials hope a second successful cease-fire could help break an impasse over the format of the talks.
In recent months, facilitators have shuttled to Doha, where the Taliban’s political office is located, in a bid to lay out a framework for talks that would be acceptable to all three parties.
“The informal discussions have involved US and European officials, along with other organizations that maintained contacts with the Taliban over the years, people familiar with the process said.
“The government plans to announce a cease-fire, and we’re hopeful to get a positive response from the Taliban,” said Haroon Chakhansuri, Afghanistan’s presidential spokesman, confirming the plan to call a truce. “We hope that this cease-fire Eid will lead to a sustainable peace.”
The Taliban said any comment on negotiations or the cease-fire planned around the time of Eid al-Adha on Aug. 21-23 was premature.
“We will follow whatever decision the leadership of the Islamic Emirate takes regarding the truce,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Laurel Miller, who served as the top US representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan until June 2017, said multilateral talks involving the Taliban, the US and others had been under way for quite some time. There was growing recognition that the US refusal to engage in direct talks was an obstacle to ending the war, she said.
“I think the US should be more forcefully engaged and they should recognize that it’s going to take the US being the prime mover to make anything actually happen in the peace process,” said Ms. Miller, now a foreign-policy expert at Rand Corp.
Alice Wells, deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs, has been leading US efforts in Afghanistan and elsewhere to drive the process forward. Ms. Wells didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
But Ms. Wells recently told a Senate hearing that the US was prepared to talk directly with the Taliban as part of a multilateral process. “The United States has made clear that we are prepared to support, facilitate and participate in direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban.”