Afghan-Taliban talks

As was expected, the two days of talks between Taliban representatives and Afghan politicians in Doha, Qatar that ended this past Sunday produced no outcome. The closed door talks hosted by the Qatar foreign ministry opened up the possibility of a resolution to the 13-year-old civil war in Afghanistan. The talks came as increased fighting after the withdrawal of most Nato troops from the country led to the Taliban launching a new offensive in northern Afghanistan. None of the officials, who emerged smiling and sharing jokes after the peace talks, spoke to the media through official channels. It has been reported that a ceasefire was discussed. However, apparently a disagreement over the presence of US troops in the country was made quite clear. A Taliban participant said they had presented a set of written demands and conditions among the participants. They said the Afghan government had asked them to stop fighting and obey the Afghan constitution. This was a non-starter since US troops are still present in Afghanistan. The Afghan government claimed that only foreign trainers were left, who would leave if the Taliban stopped fighting. Officials from the US, China and Pakistan were said to have attended the talks, with Pakistan officially announcing support for the peace talks.
The next round of talks is scheduled in the UAE next month. However, after reading some of the statements coming out of the talks one is tempted to ask: did they actually have talks or was it just a social call? A Taliban statement called it a ‘research conference’ where each member came in their ‘individual capacity’. The Afghan presidential spokesman also insisted that members of the High Peace Council attended the talks in their ‘personal capacity only’ and that they “have no expectations.” Perhaps both sides are trying to establish common ground before raising hopes after the embarrassing attempts at talks in 2013. Then, amidst a discussion that talks were imminent,

the Taliban opened an office in Qatar for the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ and raised their flag. Afghan anger at the raising of the flag prompted a swift closure to the talks process. For now, the major stumbling block appears to be foreign troops in Afghanistan. But the Afghan government appears caught between a rock and a hard place. What guarantee is there that the Taliban will be as amenable once US troops are out? Foreign troops remain the only trump card Afghan President Ghani appears to possess. A compromise will need to be found soon if the much-needed Afghan peace process is to go ahead.