The Guardian: Fresh hope has been injected into the Afghan peace process after Taliban officials said groundbreaking preliminary talks with the US last month were “very helpful” and that another round will take place in Doha in September.
Four Taliban members met Alice Wells, a senior US state department official, at a hotel in the Qatari capital on 23 July for the first face-to-face talks in seven years.
The diplomacy follows the White House’s decision to drop its opposition to bilateral talks with the Islamist insurgency it has failed to uproot in 17 years of war.
On Sunday fighting continued for the third consecutive day between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in the eastern city of Ghazni.
The US previously said it would sit on the sidelines of an “Afghan-led, Afghan-owned” peace process. The Trump administration changed tack, however, in recognition of the Taliban’s refusal to enter negotiations with the Afghan government without first discussing the removal of foreign troops in the US.
The first round of basic contacts “were very helpful”, a senior member of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura told the Guardian. They requested anonymity as only the movement’s spokesperson is authorised to speak in public.
“The next round will be more specific and focused on key issues,” the Quetta Shura member said. They added that after the agenda-setting talks, the insurgency will eventually sit down with Afghan leaders. In February, President Ashraf Ghani offered the Taliban wide-ranging incentives for a peace deal, including political recognition and a constitutional review.
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