Afghan government officials in direct talks with Taliban

“There’re a few Taliban who still don’t want peace”. As the insurgency rages in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s leadership has taken refuge in Pakistan. That will be difficult because fighters are spread across Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said.

“This is an important step in advancing prospects for a credible peace”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.

In a text message to media, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that attack had targeted a “foreign vehicle”. “This means the war will go on until they are defeated”. The one deal the two sides have struck – the release of Sgt. Top battlefield commander Abdul Qayum Zakir, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, objected to sending the delegation for talks with Kabul, reported by a lower-level Taliban commander in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.

Talks seen as a “starting point”.

At the Qatar meetings, activists said, Taliban delegates pledged support for women’s education and their right to work in “male-dominated professions” – a sharp contrast from their traditional misogynistic reputation.

The next meeting is expected to take place after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Insurgents attacked a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation convoy and an office of the Afghan spy agency in the capital as the Taleban pressed ahead with their bloody summer offensive despite recent moves towards dialogue. Many Afghans have deep misgivings about Pakistan’s involvement in the peace process.

The Afghan government “will speak during negotiations from a strong position”, Ghani said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Elements of the Afghan Taliban have chafed at their dependence on Pakistan and sought to keep it at a distance from its global outreach efforts.

Ghani, unlike his predecessor, reached out to Pakistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif described the talks as a “breakthrough” and adding “this process has to succeed”.

The Afghan Taliban, however, has in the past, disowned the peace process, saying those speaking to the Afghan government were not authorized to do so.

President Barack Obama had announced his intention to pull out all but 5,500 troops by year’s end. Ghani issued an apology – of sorts – to the Taliban.

All this has been the source of much criticism. The world recognizes that Afghan forces “aren’t weak and can’t be defeated”, he said.

This view was echoed by Karzai’s associates who sat in on the interview. One official from the council said the government representatives included Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai.

“In the long term, peace is not a luxury, it is a necessity”, said Nicholas Haysom, the United Nations secretary-general’s special representative for Afghanistan.