Zalmay Khalilzad
The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan peace efforts arrived in Kabul on Saturday after meeting Taliban leaders in Qatar in an effort to find a way to end the 17-year-old war in the country, three Afghan officials said.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. adviser, met with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday and briefed him about his 10-day tour of four countries conducted in a bid to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.
A senior member of the Taliban confirmed that Khalilzad met the Taliban leadership on Friday in Doha.
"Both sides discuss prospects of peace and the U.S presence in Afghanistan," said the official, requesting anonymity.
At least 13 people were killed and more than 30 injured in an explosion at an election rally for a woman standing as a candidate in Afghanistan's parliamentary polls on Oct. 20, officials said on Saturday.Khalil Asir, a police spokesman in the northeast province of Takhar, said explosives were placed in a motorcycle near the rally, which was to have been addressed by the candidate, Nazifa Yousufi Bek.No militant group immediately claimed of responsibility for the attack.US bolstering military presence in AfghanistanScores of people had gathered to listen to the candidate, but police said she was not at the rally at the time of the blast.Bek is one of 417 women contesting seats across the country, more than ever before, despite deadly suicide attacks on election rallies and offices apparently aimed at forcing voters to boycott the vote scheduled for Oct. 20.Candidates, regardless of gender, are braving violence and opposition from social conservatives in a campaign seen as a test of the war-torn nation's democratic institutions.Pakistan: No single country can bring Taliban for talksFive candidates, all men, have been killed in separate attacks so far. Another two have been abducted, and four others have been wounded by hardline militants, election officials said.Takhar, a province bordering Tajikistan has long been a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban has directed Afghans to boycott the upcoming polls.
At least 13 dead, dozens injured in blast at Afghan election rally
U.S. officials in Kabul were not immediately available for a comment on Khalilzad's visit.
Last month, Khalilzad was appointed as U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation as President Donald Trump's administration launched fresh efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban.
Khalilzad's trip started out from Afghanistan. He travelled to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar before returning to Kabul.
A senior official working with President Ghani said Khalilzad briefed Ghani about his meetings with senior ministers and top diplomats in four countries who could play a key role in peace talks with the Taliban.
The U.S. is deploying a contingent of 148 soldiers to Afghanistan in a move that will boost its military presence in the country.The soldiers are members of the 42nd Clearance Company at Fort Knox, an army base in Kentucky. According to media reports, a ceremony was held Wednesday for the soldiers, who will be leaving in a few weeks for their mission.They are scheduled to return in August of next year.The U.S. has been fighting in Afghanistan since it invaded in 2001, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks of that year.The war in Afghanistan is the U.S.'s longest-running conflict.About 14,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan.
US bolstering military presence in Afghanistan
Western and Asian diplomats in Kabul said Khalilzad, 67, has knowledge of the country's main languages, culture and politics that could help him engage with all stakeholders in the peace process.
"The Trump administration and Ghani's government are now banking on Khalilzad to find a diplomatic way to end the war with the Taliban," said a top Western diplomat in Kabul. But ongoing fighting has raised questions about the viability of the U.S. strategy to end the war, which for the past year has focused on forcing the militants, largely with more air strikes, to the negotiating table.
Pakistan told Washington that no single country could bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table since Islamabad has lost its influence on the Taliban, an official said on Friday.On Oct. 9, a veteran U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, Wasington's newly appointed representative for finding a peaceful and political solution to the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan, has visited Islamabad where he met Pakistani officials, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.During his meetings, Khalilzad sought Pakistan's help to bring Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table."Pakistan fully supports the policy of negotiations with Taliban, it is a shared responsibility to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table and no single country can be expected to undertake this task unilaterally," Mohammad Faisal, spokesman of the Foreign Ministry told reporters on Thursday.The spokesman explained that the role of the U.S., the Afghan government and other regional players is equally important and that is why ambassador Khalilzad is visiting other countries including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to elicit their support.Earlier, Khalilzad arrived in Kabul and hold meetings with Afghan officials including President Ashraf Ghani before visiting Islamabad."I think U.S. and Afghan intelligence agency, NDS, both had played their role in the broken down 2015 peace process and later they missed another opportunity in 2016, that's why now Taliban don't trust their sincerity," retired Brig. Said Nazir told Anadolu Agency.However, Nazir believed that Islamabad still enjoys some influence on the Taliban, advancing that the U.S. could undertake confidence-building initiatives such as releasing Taliban prisoners and removing the names of their leadership from the UN black list.In July, Afghan officials said U.S. and Taliban leaders met in Qatar to discuss ways to lay the groundwork for peace talks."After the July meeting, there was another meeting between U.S. and Taliban leaders scheduled in September. However, according to my sources it was postponed to give some time to Khalilzad for preparations and now it is expected to be held in the coming weeks," Tahir Khan, an Islamabad-based Afghan affairs analyst said.UN in Afghanistan documents 8,050 civilian casualtiesTurkey condemns terror attack in AfghanistanKhan added the Khalilzad's appointment showed the U.S. now wants to find a political solution to the Afghan war since they failed to defeat the Taliban with force.A seven-member delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council, headed by Maulvi Attaullah Ludin, visited Pakistan last week and met Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, head of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, known as the father of the Afghan Taliban and sought his help in restoring peace in the country.Ul-Haq assured an Afghan government-sponsored peace council that they will do their part to help end Afghanistan’s conflict.However, Tahir Khan said he believed the Taliban were not ready to sit down with the Afghan government as first they want to know when the U.S. will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan."The Taliban are not ready to involve any third party in negotiations with the U.S. However later they will want a guarantor that could be the UN, China, Russia etc. anyone the Taliban trust," Khan claimed. Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid refrained to comment on Khalilzad's visit to Kabul, Islamabad and other Gulf countries.However, in a statement issued on Oct. 7, Mujahid said the issue of Afghanistan has no military solution."Foreign invaders should withdraw their forces from our homeland by ending their occupation and ceasing further bloodshed of innocent Afghans by leaving the Afghans to decide about their country and future themselves," Mujahid said in his statement.Pakistan opposes India-Russia S-400 dealSenior Pakistani judge removed from high court
Pakistan: No single country can bring Taliban for talks
Last week the Taliban demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign forces as the only solution to end the war as they ramped up attacks in strategic provinces. They also directed Afghans to boycott parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 20.
At least 8,050 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first nine months of 2018, almost half of them targeted by suicide bomb attacks and other improvised devices that may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said last week.