As the holy moth of Ramazan set in, the Afghan Taliban on Monday announced a one-day break from fighting.
In Farah province, they stormed a check post and killed 20 security personnel.
Meanwhile, a report to the United States Congress warned the world about “unintended consequences” of talks with the Taliban.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad “wish(ed) peace and prosperity to all Afghans this Ramazan”.
The situation is fluid and pregnant with grave repercussions for Pakistan, which is holding the first ever elections to the provincial assembly in the restive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan since their merger with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Afghanistan is home to a large number of people who have never known peace in their lifetime. The Taliban militants are destroying what is left of that country on a daily basis. A suicide bomber has killed 13 people in an attack at a police station in Baghlan province.
At the recent Loya Jirga in which thousands of community leaders participated, the government of President Ashraf Ghani offered to free 175 Taliban men in return for peace during Ramazan. The Taliban neither attended the meeting nor agreed to a truce, leave alone peace.
They have said, however, that they will be “very careful of civilians during any operation”. Even, this would be great news if it did not lack credibility.
Focus on peace in Ramazan is rooted in the religiosity that the region is home to. Muslims fast during the day and consider violence a much worse evil than in other months. The Taliban espouse the religiosity in their rhetoric but are not ready to relent in their deadly attacks.
In his quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, has warned that there will be unintended consequences even if talks with the Taliban are a resounding success.
The US Congress should heed this report, the famous optimism of US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad not withstanding. It points out that the US has had the longest war of its history in Afghanistan. If the Taliban agree to peace, women empowerment, corruption, drugs and mixing of militants with the masses shall remain areas of concern.
Based on key findings of this report, one can say that talks with the Taliban are going to change nothing in Afghanistan. It is time for the world to look for a solution that ensures protection of human rights in a post-Taliban Afghanistan. *