Violence stays unabated in Afghanistan, and even has seen huge uptick after five rounds of talks between the United States and the Taliban. Reports of mass casualties, suffering and financial losses continue to hit headlines on a daily basis. Incidents of casualties among Afghan civilians besides both sides have dramatically increased, especially those caused by pro-government forces. Only in a latest incident, as many as 45 civilians have reportedly been killed in a US airstrike in the Bakwa district of western Farah province.
Although violence is never acceptable, it is extremely worrisome especially when peace talks are ongoing between the warring sides. The belligerent parties may intensify their attacks against each other in a bid to increase their leverage in peace talks, but it can sabotage all efforts aimed at peacefully ending the conflict. Insistence on violence by any side provides a pretext for the other party to justify its mistrust of the political settlement of the conflict. The problem of using violence as a tool to gain more leverage is that ordinary Afghans are paying a price for it. Moreover, it can widen the trust deficit between the warring sides at this critical moment when there is a dire need to build trust between them.
Now that the sixth round of negotiations between Americans and Taliban is ongoing in Qatar, ceasefire must top the discussions, but if the Taliban refuse to accept to a comprehensive ceasefire for any reservations, priority has to be given to at least reduce violence. The American side must truly give priority to reduction of violence as stressed by US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad. The philosophy of peace parleys is to reduce and finally end violence, and if they cannot achieve the goal, they lose their essence.
The reduction of violence is an essential step for talks to progress, as it both decreases casualties and helps build trust between the warring sides. Now that negotiations between the two sides have had significant progress, the sides must seek more concessions on the bargaining table than through violence on the battlefields. Intensification of violence in the midst of talks is not the only way to gain more leverage, because it, regardless of which side commits it, alienates ordinary people, which can have grave consequences for the culprits in the long run.