First meeting of Kabul peace council marks new phase in talks

Addressing the first meeting of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation on Saturday, the government’s chief negotiator, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, said that Kabul wanted to engage in serious negotiations with the Taliban, calling the recent escalation in violence the main obstacle for peace in the country.

“We are ready to fully engage with the Taliban to discuss all issues,” Dr. Abdullah said. “Violence is the main hurdle for peace … the first demand of the people of Afghanistan is the reduction of violence, and a permanent ceasefire.”

Other members of the council, including President Ashraf Ghani, stressed the need for unity and consensus among political leaders in moving the peace efforts forward.

On Wednesday, Taliban and Kabul-appointed negotiators broke the stalemate in the intra-Afghan talks and agreed on a mechanism for the parley, more than two months after the US-facilitated negotiations began in Qatar on Sept. 12.

The intra-Afghan talks – aimed at ending more than four decades of war in the country – follows a secret accord signed between Washington and the Taliban in late February this year which, among other conditions, laid out the establishment of the AHCNR in March and the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign troops from the country.

However, the setting up of the peace body faced several delays due to infighting within the government and President Ghani’s dissatisfaction with the February deal that had excluded his administration.

President Ghani said that the intra-Afghan peace talks had entered the second phase and “more consultations” were required. 

“The peace negotiations have reached the second phase. The first phase showed that the task was not easy, but it succeeded,” he said.

There has been an escalation in violence across the country in the past two months, with both the Taliban and government delegates blaming each other for the uptick in attacks.

According to the Interior Ministry, more than 1,200 civilians have been killed since the talks began on Sept. 12, despite a pledge by both groups to reduce violence.

Meanwhile, Afghan forces in Helmand province, the worst affected by the attacks, have been fighting to block Taliban strikes that have displaced more than 35,000 people in the past few weeks.

Without blaming either side, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the rising violence was “unacceptably high,” adding that Washington has asked the warring parties to “stand back and indeed stand down.”

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said it was “too early to comment” about the formation of the AHCNR, which follows pressure last week from the EU mission in Kabul.

Earlier in the day, another Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammed Yousuf Ahmadi, accused US troops of violating the February accord, which bars both sides from attacking each other.

“In recurrent violation of the Doha agreement, American forces carried out airstrikes on a Mujahideen base and nearby civilian homes in Nad Ali district, Helmand – an area quite far from any battleground and where no military activities were happening,” Ahmadi said in a statement. 

“The Islamic Emirate condemns this barbaric attack as a clear violation of the Doha agreement, and warns that such unrestrained actions can provoke retaliation and heighten tensions,” he said.

Arab News could not reach the US military for comment at the time of writing, but the US has in the past argued that it reserved the right to defend Afghan troops from massive Taliban onslaughts.

Commenting on the spike in violence, Ghani said that the “ceasefire would not damage the Taliban … and the ball was in Taliban court now. It is time they show political will and stop the bloodshed.”

The president, who won a second five-year term in March, added that peace should “preserve the republic system and the achievements of the past two decades,” referring to the period since the Taliban’s ouster under the US-led invasion in 2001.

Experts agreed that the onus was on the Doha team to optimize the AHCNR.

“Now, (after the formation of the peace council) the Doha team (of government negotiators) have an place to consult on peace-related matters,” said analyst Wahidullah Ghazikhail.

Former President Hamid Karzai who, like some factional leaders is also a member of the AHCR, said that Afghan leaders needed to “forge a consensus” on peace and “efforts for reconciliation must be expedited.”

However, Torek Farhadi, a former government adviser, said that the Taliban would agree to a ceasefire only after Ghani accepts that he has to resign and agree on the formation of a coalition government.

“The peace consultative body will succeed, provided its members are given a role in the future government that will be formed on this basis, he said.