ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban have refused to accept Pakistan’s call to start talks with the government, Taliban sources privy to the contacts between the two sides said. Pakistani officials had pressed the Afghan insurgents to join the intra-Afghan dialogue. However, they have now formally conveyed their decision, sources told Daily Times. “Taliban leaders had sought some time for consultations when Pakistan had formally urged the Taliban leaders to come to the negotiation table. The Taliban negotiators have now come up with a negative response,” they said. Another Taliban leader; however, reiterated their longstanding demand to sit face-to-face with the Americans to “discuss a time-frame” for the withdrawal of the foreign forces. The Americans have never showed willingness to respond to the Taliban repeated calls for direct talks and advised them to negotiate with the Kabul administration. Taliban argue the regime in Kabul has “no power” to take independent decisions. The long-awaited US review will determine if President Trump goes for surge in troops or shift focus to political negotiations. Taliban officials, aware of the activities of the Qatar-based political office, also say that there is currently no political activity. On the other hand, Taliban have increased attacks since they launched their ‘Spring Offensive’ and have also expanded their control in some southern, eastern and northern provinces. It is believed in Afghanistan that differences within the two-headed National Unity Government (NUG) also encourage the Taliban to take advantage of the situation and step up attacks. The alliance of Deputy Chief Executive Muhammad Mohaqiq, First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum and governor Balkh province Atta Muhammad Noor, has been critical at the government policies despite part of the NUG. Noor is the chief executive of Jamiat-e-Islami, led by Foreign Minister Salahuddinn Rabbani. Dostam, who is currently in Turkey, was reportedly not allowed to land at Mazar-e-Sharif this month, in a sign of rift within the government. Pakistan insists that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and the Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said this month that the “focus of international campaign since 2001 has been on a military approach”. “We believe this approach has not borne fruit and thus needs a revisit. The enduring solution to the protracted conflict in Afghanistan can only be achieved through reconciliation and peace talks,” the spokesman said last week. Pakistan argues that Afghan government’s peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami can serve as a model for future talks with other insurgent groups, including Taliban. But the Taliban seemed to be unimpressed by Pakistan’s advice. Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua during her visit to Kabul this week emphasised on an Afghan-led credible peace process as Pakistan believes there’s no military solution to the Afghan conflict, according to a Foreign Office statement. The role of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group or QCG of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the US is important in peace process but the process has yet to be revived. There has been no meeting of the QCG since May last year. The killing of the Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was thought to be a serious blow to the QCG process. Kabul and Islamabad have now agreed to bring the process on track, but its role will also depend on the new US strategy. The Taliban on Friday issued a strongly-worded statement on the eve of Afghanistan Independence Day and said: “Afghans are celebrating their 98th Anniversary of Independence from English Imperialists at a time when Afghanistan is in the “claws of occupation and invasion of American transgressors including Britain as thousands of their soldiers are leading a war against the Afghan nation and have usurped our national sovereignty and political freedom for the past 16 years.” “We wish to remind America and colonisers of this age that you should have taken heed from the three invasions of your forefathers who used their entire arsenal of power, strategies and tactics and tried their utmost to pacify this valiant nation and impose their empire upon our homeland, but the result was only regret and shame as they were disgracefully forced out of Afghanistan and officially recognised it as a sovereign state,” the Taliban statement said. The Taliban reminded the US that they utilised a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers and four hundred thousand Afghan troops alongside their war machine while spending two trillion dollars in a “failed attempt to secure Kabul let alone Afghanistan and rule it to your desire, then understand that you have truly lost any chance of success”. Published in Daily Times, August 19th 2017.