First official attempt at peace talks to end conflict in Afghanistan

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui urged the Afghan government to inject child protection measures into any further negotiations that flow from its first direct talks with Taliban representatives.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday officially confirmed the dialogue process with Pakistan as a host between the Afghan government and Taliban. For months, it appeared that Pakistan wouldn’t be able to play a meaningful role, which triggered criticism from Afghans who questioned Ghani’s strategy. Unlike the Afghan Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban considered Pakistani state its enemy and carried out attacks inside Pakistan. On Wednesday, there were conflicting accounts about what had been accomplished.

During the talks both sides presented their stances on the prevailing situation in Afghanistan and how progress could be made.

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

“[I]f the Taliban believe the United States is going to be nearly out, nearly completely out by 2017, that removes a great deal of the motivation for them to reach a peaceful agreement because they’re going to think that they can succeed”, McCain said. “We are hopeful that the negotiations result in ensuring dignified peace and permanent stability in the country”.

The Taliban’s official spokesman has in the past disavowed the tentative peace process, saying those meeting with Afghanistan’s government were not authorised to do so.

“In that meeting, a detailed discussion will be focused on preventing bloodshed in Afghanistan“, he told reporters in Kabul.

These talks should be recognised as the outcome of the recent concerted efforts at rebuilding relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said. That group, though not yet thought to pose a significant threat in Afghanistan, has managed to attract a wide array of disaffected Taliban leaders and other insurgents who doubt that the Taliban’s reclusive leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, is even alive.

And how successful Islamic State (IS) are in attracting Afghan fighters and controlling territory will also feature in Taliban calculations.

The White House praised the Pakistani government for helping facilitate the meeting.

Pakistani security officials said the country’s powerful army chief, Raheel Sharif, is closely monitoring the proceedings.

“The breakthrough came due to the hard-work done by the officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on the direction of the COAS that the talks have materialized”. The participants talked about working on minimizing civilian casualties at their next meeting, the official added.

And this is also the first time the Taliban have agreed to participate in talks publicly acknowledged by both Islamabad and Kabul.