Afghanistan will send 150 delegates to talks with the Taliban in Qatar, reports said on Monday.
The delegation includes ministers, provincial governors and political leaders, the BBC reported citing an anonymous government source, adding that 40 members of the delegation are women.
A source told 1TV that more than 90 politicians will independently travel to Qatar under the leadership of former president Hamid Karzai.
They include Haneef Atmar, Yunus Qanooni, Mohammad Ismail Khan, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Zirar Ahmad Moqbil, Shakir Kargar, Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Omar Zakhilwal, Syed Mansoor Nadery, Salam Zaeef, Ranging Dadfar Spanta, Sima Samar, Fawzia Koofi, Masooma Khawari, Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, Juma Khan Hamdard and Amanullah Guzar.
This comes as the US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has held find rounds of talks with the Taliban on Afghan peace, says that agreement on a ceasefire is the “quickest” way to prevent casualties and that he will continue to push Taliban senior representative to allow their representatives to come to the table of negotiations to discuss this matter.
“The quickest way to prevent casualties is to agree to a ceasefire. Taliban senior leadership should allow their representatives to come to the table and discuss. I will continue to press the case,” Khalilzad said in a tweet on Monday.
Khalilzad said that the reason that the US entered the peace talks was that “more war is not the answer”.
“The US entered peace talks because more war is not the answer. During talks, I’ve proposed ways to reduce violence. By refusing to work with us to end the killing, the Talibs are prolonging it. Let Afghan people judge whether Talib statements encouraging more violence is way forward,” he added in a tweet.
Khalilzad said the Afghan people deserve and want a comprehensive ceasefire and negotiations leading to a lasting peace. “The US stands with them,” he says.
Meanwhile, it’s reported that women will be included for the first time in the Taliban delegation to talk with US officials and Afghan representatives in Qatar over the future of Afghanistan, the movement’s main spokesman said on Monday.
“There will be women among Taliban delegation members in the Doha, Qatar meeting,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman, told the Reuters News Agency by telephone.
He did not name the women, but added, “These women have no family relationship with the senior members of the Taliban, they are normal Afghans, from inside and outside the country, who have been supporters and part of the struggle of the Islamic Emirate”.
