New round of 4-country talks set to begin

In the militancy-plagued Afghanistan, people from all walks of life have welcomed holding the second round of the four-nation talks on Afghan peace process to bring Taliban outfit into negotiating table and find political settlement to the country’s protracted conflict.

The talks will see representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China meet to formulate a road map for a dialogue that will eventually, they hope, include Taliban representatives.

The four-way contact group of senior Afghan, Pakistani, Chinese and U.S. diplomats held its initial meeting last week in Pakistan where delegates underscored the need for the immediate resumption of direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban officials.

According to local media reports, the attack took place during a gathering of tribal leaders who had arrived to celebrate the release of the provincial council member Obaidullah Shinwari’s son from Taliban captivity. The first meeting was held in Islamabad last week. A second round was cancelled after the Afghan government announced that the Talban’s founder and leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had been dead since early 2013, and the militant group had been secretly run by his deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. Taliban demands The Taliban also insisted that nothing less than the withdrawal of all foreign forces and implementation of Islamic Shariah will be acceptable to them.

All three attackers and seven security forces were killed in the assault, the first major ISIS attack in an Afghan city and on a Pakistani government installation.

“Italy supported the United States invasion of Afghanistan”, the message said.

“The talks are strategically important for everyone involved, but are unlikely to go anywhere right now”, said S. Chandrasekharan, director of the South Asia Analysis Group.

The men challenging Mansoor lack the battlefield resources to present a military threat to the main Taliban movement, Muzhda said. Pakistan must use its influence on the Taliban to convince them to return to peace negotiations.

“The government will fight those who shed the blood of our innocent people”.