Taliban asserts Afghan peace negotiators agreed on procedural rules during talks in Doha

A Taliban spokesperson on Saturday, November 28 said that negotiators from both sides for the Afghan peace process have agreed on procedural rules with 21 items for the intra-Afghan talks on November 15.

"The procedure of Intra-Afghan negotiations between the negotiating teams was completed and finalized in 21 articles on the 15th of November 2020," tweeted Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban.

According to reports, a breakthrough in the talks was made this week and both sides are reported to have agreed to include the US-Taliban agreement, commitments of the negotiating teams, UN endorsements for the Afghan peace process, and the will of the people of Afghanistan.

However, the Afghan Presidential Palace dismissed the reports that any progress had been made in the peace talks and said that the impasse still remained.

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Confidential trip to Kabul

Meanwhile, Afghan chief negotiator Mohammad Massoom Stanikzai and presidential peace adviser Salam Rahimi have been on a confidential trip to Kabul for the past three days. They are seeking President Ghani's approval for the agreed formulation, according to reports. The peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government started on September 12. However, no direct talks have started to date because of disagreements on procedural rules for the negotiations.

According to reports, the Taliban has staged attacks on the centers of at least 50 districts in 16 provinces across the country following the signing of the peace deal with the US in Doha in February. Most of these attacks happened in the last two months after the start of the negotiations in Qatar as members from both sides of the peace negotiations met several times to agree on the contested issue.

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(With ANI inputs)