The recent prisoner swap deal with the Taliban has rekindled hopes for political settlement of Afghan conflict. US President Donald Trump spoke with President Ashraf Ghani to thank him for his bold decision to release three senior Taliban commanders, including Anas Haqqani, as a confidence-building measure which the Taliban reciprocated by freeing 10 Afghan soldiers and two professors of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) who were kidnapped in Kabul in 2016. One of the main points of discussion during the 25 minutes-long call between President Ghani and President Trump was the need for reduction of violence in Afghanistan to move the peace process forward. Trump has also phoned Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Meanwhile, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that the US was working with the Taliban on a peace agreement.
These developments come as President Trump abruptly called off talks with the Taliban in September after almost a year of several rounds of direct negotiations between Taliban representatives and American diplomats led by US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in Doha. Trump cited a Taliban-claimed suicide attack in Kabul, in which 12 people, including a US soldier, were killed, for the cancellation of talks. Though Washington was expected to return to the negotiating table in the light of Trump’s impatience for US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the announcement shattered hopes of Afghan people for achieving peace after decades of suffering.
The latest prisoner exchange and the unanimity of Kabul and Washington on reduction of violence herald progress in the peace process. Even though Afghan government attempted to indicate that US administration has insisted on ceasefire as a precondition to begin negotiations with the Taliban, the discussion over reduction of violence itself is a welcome step. By showing flexibility, all parties — Washington, Kabul and the Taliban — need to agree to significantly reduce the level of violence, thereby gradually clearing the path for a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire in the country.
The opportunity presented now for restart of the official peace parleys need not to be squandered. Americans should return to the negotiating table with Taliban as soon as possible so that formal intra-Afghan negotiations, as the sole channel for the political settlement of the conflict and decision-making on the future of the country, can begin. Afghan people cannot afford missing the present opportunity.