Afghan talks with Taliban conclude on positive note

President Barack Obama had announced his intention to pull out all but 5,500 troops by year’s end.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the “Inter-Afghan Peace Negotiations” in a statement Wednesday.

But Taliban representatives at the meeting said they had the mandate of the insurgent group’s Pakistan-based leadership.

No date or venue was given for the next meeting, Karzai said.

Another delegation member Mohammad Nateqi emphasized on the importance of the meeting, saying that the meeting was attended by senior Taliban and Haqqani network members. “It was agreed that for lasting peace in the region, each side would approach the process with sincerity and full commitment”, he said, adding that the representatives of China and the United States also participated in the meeting.

Just ahead of the talks in Pakistan, the Taliban launched two suicide attacks in Kabul on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding three.

White House: “This is an important step in advancing prospects for a credible peace”. “The army chief, during his recent visits to Kabul, had assured President Ghani of convincing the Afghan Taliban for talks”, the source added.

Analysts have suggested that the Taliban may want to delay formal peace talks in anticipation of a stronger negotiating position down the line.

The Afghan foreign ministry in the statement also thanked Pakistan for facilitating and hosting the first ever direct talks between the delegation of High Peace Council and the Taliban.

When the US-led invasion ousted the militants in 2001 many of their leaders took refuge in Pakistan and still live there, closely monitored by intelligence agencies. That, in part, is why the group opened a political office in Qatar and insisted that any official diplomatic communications go through there.

He said Pakistan is committed to supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

Karimi said two of the wounded were civilians who suffered minor injuries and described the third as a “foreigner”, but there was no confirmation of identity or nationality. But intermittent efforts to establish such talks have largely faltered. Criticism come mostly from the predecessor and of those who had antagonistic relations with Pakistan during the past two decades.

“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.

In recent months, too, the Taliban have faced a threat that could intensify its risk of splintering: the emergence of the Islamic State in Afghanistan.

Silent throughout the process has been Mullah Mohammad Omar, the Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader who has not been seen in public since the Taliban was toppled.

Divisions within the Taliban movement, particularly between young battle commanders in Afghanistan and older leadership figures overseas, have helped to hamper peace efforts over the years.