WASHINGTON: Rival Afghans will meet Sunday in Qatar, officials said, in a fresh attempt to make political headway as the United States seeks a peace deal with the Taliban within three months.
President Donald Trump said in an interview broadcast Monday that he wants to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, but will leave a strong intelligence presence there to counter what he termed the “Harvard of terrorists.”
The Taliban, who on Monday killed six people with a powerful bomb targeted at Afghanistan’s defence ministry, have refused to negotiate with President Ashraf Ghani, and a previous attempt to bring the insurgents together with government officials in Doha collapsed in April in a dispute over attendees.
Germany, a key player in international support for the post-Taliban government, and Qatar, which maintains contacts with the militants, said that they jointly extended invitations for a dialogue in Doha on Sunday and Monday.
The Afghans “will participate only in their personal capacity and on an equal footing,” Markus Potzel, Germany’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in a statement released Monday by the United States. “Afghanistan stands at a critical moment of opportunity for progress towards peace,” he said. “An essential component of any process leading to this objective will be direct engagement between Afghans,” he said.
Police say that ten people were killed in Abuja and “many others” in Okija
Ministry says three drones were destroyed by air defence systems and three others by electronic warfare systems
Sanjoy Roy, 33, lone accused in case, pleads not guilty before judge in closed court in Kolkata
JUI-F chief says talks with government have been positive wherein it admitted that party’s demands were strong
Iran has poor road safety record, with 20,000 deaths reported between March 2023 and March 2024 in road accidents
"Entire nation is united to eliminate every enemy of peace," says Maryam Nawaz
