The Taliban diplomatic office leader in Doha and the US State Secretary Mike Pompeo arranged a video conference to address the reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The Islamist organization said, on Tuesday, the talks were aimed at eliminating obstacles on the road to peace talks.
Increasing instability and a controversial prisoner exchange between the Afghan government and the Taliban also disrupted negotiations. The exchange was to happen between the insurgent party and a Kabul-mandated delegation. But the Afghan government failed to honor the deal, and it further delayed the talk that should have begun in March.
On Twitter, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen spoke about Monday’s talks with official Mullah Baradar and Pompeo. He claimed the talks addressed the complete implementation of the Doha deal and the removal of international troops as well as the liberation of hostages, intra-Afghan talks, and a decrease in the fighting.
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The Doha deal, reached in February between the United States and the Taliban, developed arrangements for the removal of foreign troops from the war-torn country in return for insurgent security assurances.
“Baradar repeated once again that the Taliban are determined never to allow anyone to use Afghan soil (to launch attacks) against any nation,” Shaheen said.
Are Taliban ready for peace?
Pompeo admitted that the rebel group had “lowered the scale of the conflict. They are not targeting cities and large military bases.” However, he insisted that both sides had to do more.
The US embassy in Kabul did not respond instantly to an email requesting clarification.
Trump, Russia, and US troops
The Baradar-Pompeo conference comes in the wake of the latest US media claims. Stories that US Officials had updated President Donald Trump about Taliban-linked militants as how they received bounties from Russia for targeting foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Trump has refuted all such briefings.
Furthermore, Shaheen stated that Baradar informed Pompeo about the slowdown in talks. It was due to the failure of the Afghan government to release the agreed number of prisoners.
Kabul and several foreign countries have raised questions over the freedom of some 200 inmates in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, they claimed these prisoners are involved in significant attacks.
Taliban fighters have conducted 44 attacks since the Doha pact. Killing or wounding an average of 24 civilians every day, said Javid Faisal, the spokesman for the Afghan National Security Advisor on Tuesday.
Baradar notified Pompeo that the escalated attacks were due to government aggression in Taliban-controlled regions, Shaheen said.
