Daily Times

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has met Taliban chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Qatar to explore ways for resumption of the stalled peace talks.

Khalilzad paused the negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar last month after the Taliban attacked the Bagram airfield north of Kabul that killed at least two people and injured nearly 70 others.

However, formal negotiations have not started yet as the US envoy says he has not received response to his calls for “reduction in violence” a brief ceasefire before signing of the peace agreement, according to a Taliban official.

“Qatari officials had informed the Taliban that a meeting with Khalilzad will be held when he arrived in Qatar two days ago. Our representatives were ready for the meeting but Khalilzad refused on the plea that he has not received response to his proposal,” the Taliban official told Daily Times, who wanted to remain anonymous. A Taliban source in Qatar said there is possibility small Taliban-US committees could hold meetings to remove differences about the issue of reduction in violence.

Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen and American officials did not respond to queries posted on their WhatsApp.

The US has been pressing the Taliban for reduction in violence and reports said Khalilzad has suggested a brief ceasefire before the signing of the peace agreement. Both sides had finalized draft of the agreement in August at the conclusion of ninth round of talks. However, US President Donald Trump called off the talks in early September after Taliban killed an American soldier and 11 other people in Kabul. Shaheen stated earlier that the Taliban representatives had suggested a break in the talks for consultations with the leaders. A Taliban official told Daily Times that the Taliban leadership have wrapped up discussions on the US proposal and recommendations were sent to their chief Maulvi Haibatullah for a final decision.

American negotiators are pushing for the ceasefire as another confidence building measure after the much-publicized prisoner swap deal in November. As the US calls for reduction in violence Taliban have increased attacks on the Afghan forces and several deadly attacks in recent days killed dozens of security personnel. Taliban said on Sunday suicide car bombing targeted a base of Afghan forces in southern Kandahar, killing and injuring scores of soldiers. Reports said gunmen also later tried to storm the facility in Khakrez district, triggering heavy clashes. Afghan officials confirmed at least one soldier was killed while another got injured, but section of the Afghan media reported the death of at least 10 Afghan soldiers.