First round of talks between Afghan govt, Taliban concludes in Murree

The first round of talks brokered by Pakistan between representatives of the Afghan government and Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan (TTA) concluded Wednesday in Murree, with both parties agreeing to meet again.

The United States attempt to engage the Taliban in Qatar in 2012 failed when then Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to the Taliban raising their official flag above their office, making it look like they were a government-in-exile.

The participants exchanged views on ways to bring peace and reconciliation to Afghanistan, where fighting has continued since the Taliban were removed from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

In the past, both the Afghan government and the Taliban have been wary of using Pakistan as a go-between for discussions.

Pakistan backed the Taliban’s rise in the 1990s and was among a handful of countries that recognized it as the legitimate government in Afghanistan prior to the 2001 US-led invasion. In one case in late 2010, a Taliban impostor duped North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Afghan officials, pretending to be a senior official ready to begin peace talks.

“The Afghan people are hopeful that the negotiations continue with good intentions and determination”, the statement said.

Previous efforts to start a dialogue had stalled. “Have the different Taliban factions agreed to these talks?” he said.

Just ahead of the talks in Pakistan, the Taliban launched two suicide attacks in Kabul on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding three. 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. He said Thursday that the atmosphere of the talks was “cordial” and that there would be a “further development”.

“We can confirm an attack on coalition forces occurred in Kabul at approximately 11:30am”.

The Pakistan and the Afghan government statements did not mention any of the participants by name.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani first announced the talks earlier on Tuesday.

Few details were released about what was discussed, but a foreign ministry spokesman said the talks lasted through the night, concluding at sehri, the traditional pre-dawn meal Muslims eat during the fasting month of Ramadan.

China has also “invested in Afghanistan heavily and it wants to help Afghanistan with its reconstruction effort”, Khan added.

The overnight meeting at a hill resort near Islamabad included representatives of the government, of the Quetta Shura group and of the Haqqani Network, Din Mohammad told dpa.

Nasrullah Sadieqizada, an Afghan parliament member, called the talks “Pakistani propaganda”.

Still, the opening talks may be the clearest signal yet of Pakistani commitment to helping Ghani obtain a peace deal.