While the talks between the US and the Taliban continue in Doha, the Taliban meanwhile insisted that the US take responsibility for delays in the peace negotiation talks.
On February 6, sources familiar with the talks said that the United States had recently made “several new demands” with the reduction in violence plan.
One of the demands, according to these sources, is that the reduction in violence should be long-term.
“The recent days and weeks have witnessed demands of peace and end of occupation continuously echoing from every corner of the country. The gathering by politicians, political parties and all other strata of society are calling on America to sign the peaceful resolution agreement and refrain from further demands, reservations and excuses,” a statement issued by the Taliban reads.
Meanwhile, the Afghan government has reiterated the call for the Taliban to engage in a “realistic” peace process.
“The Taliban should denounce war and violence and endorse a real peace process,” said Durani Waziri, deputy spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani.
A former member of the Taliban has also said that more demands in the talks could put the talks and the reduction in violence proposal in jeopardy.
“There is a stalemate at this point. The excuse which was made by the Americans pushed the Taliban to suspect that there might be another condition after this condition. Therefore, it is possible that the Taliban will not agree on the extension of a reduction in violence proposal,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander, referring to a potential agreement between the US and the Taliban on the reduction in violence plan.
But the office of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has said that the recent talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha are important.
“Our international partners, particularly the US, at this stage are hopeful. This time their hopes are more than in previous rounds, they will finally reach some kind of conclusion. We hope that these efforts yield positive outcomes,” said Mujiburrahman Rahimi, a spokesman for CE Abdullah Abdullah.
