Afghanistan: Vice President Saleh accuses Pakistan of 'sponsoring Taliban terrorists'

Nearly a week after the Afghanistan Government and the Taliban issued a joint statement on the violence and agreed to prevent civilian casualties, country's Vice President Amrullah Saleh said that the terrorist outfit has 'no intention to engage in meaningful negotiations'. In a major allegation, the Vice President also asserted, "Talibs use Doha office for deception." It is significant to mention that earlier, the insurgent group had announced that it was willing to follow a ceasefire if 7,000 militants that have been imprisoned in Afghanistan are released. 

Meanwhile, in his Twitter post, VP Saleh again accused Pakistan of backing and sponsoring 'a full-scale invasion of Talib terrorists'.

While speaking at the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), the Vice President raised the question of who is assisting the Taliban. 'Let’s call a spade a spade,' added Vice President Saleh. 

Afghan peace talks

On July 18, a senior delegation of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Taliban held a meeting in Doha for the second day over the high-stake negotiations as violence rages in the country. Former Afghan chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah was also present in the government delegation. "The high-level meetings between the Republic & the Taliban negotiation teams continue in Doha for the second day. We are looking forward to a positive & constructive outcome," Abdullah tweeted.

Later, it was decided that the next meeting between the Deobandi Islamist movement and the Afghan government will take place in the next month. According to a report by TOLO news, both sides had agreed to continue their conferences and promote peace efforts in the war-led country. It is worth noting that this was the first such meeting after the US military launched four airstrikes in support of Afghan government forces targeting Taliban insurgents at Kandahar province. 

According to TOLO sources, the main agenda of the next meeting would revolve around making the framework to achieve long-awaited peace talks before the August 31st deadline that US President Joe Biden had announced earlier this year regarding the withdrawal of the US troops from the war-torn country. 

Afghanistan's allegations against Pakistan 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan Vice President has been accusing Pakistan of supporting the Taliban. The ties between the two nations deteriorated further after the kidnap of the daughter of the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan. The tensions further escalated with Pakistan official's statement which mentioned that no evidence was found regarding the abduction of Afghan Envoy Najibullah Alikhil's daughter Silsila Alikhail. Meanwhile, Afghanistan Vice President had also dragged India into a war of words with Pakistan by sharing the historic picture of 1971 post-war where the Pakistan Army had surrendered to India.