Warring Afghanistan Govt & Taliban discuss peace talks in Qatar amid surge in violence

After months of brewing negotiations, the Afghanistan government's negotiating team and the Taliban leadership met in Doha, Qatar on April 14 to deliberate on ascending peace talks. 

The Afghan government's peace team explained on Twitter, "Today a meeting was held in Doha between the delegations of both negotiating sides". The parties "emphasised speeding up the peace talks in Doha", it added.

Taliban spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen also confirmed the event via his official Twitter handle. 

In a similar statement posted to Twitter, the Taliban said "both sides agreed to continue the talks after (Eid al-Fitr)", which concludes on Saturday.

Explosion inside a mosque in Kabul despite a three-day ceasefire

After weeks of deadly violence, a three-day ceasefire was agreed upon by the warring sides which came into force on Thursday to mark the Muslim holiday (Eid al-Fitr). However, the tranquillity was disrupted by a blast at a mosque on the outskirts of the Afghan capital. This explosion on Friday afternoon reported the killing of 12 persons including the Imam (one who leads Muslim worshippers in prayer). No group has so far claimed the attack and the Taliban has denied their responsibility too. Ceasefires in the past have largely held, in what is widely thought to be an exercise by the Taliban leadership to prove its reign control over the multitude of factions across Afghanistan which constitute an uncompromising adherence to movement. Afghans had been cautiously rejoicing the rare respite from violence, only the fourth such truce in the two-decades-long conflict. 

US and NATO have pledged to withdraw their troops by September 11

Violence has intensified in Afghanistan since the United States missed a May 1 deadline, agreed with the Taliban last year, to withdraw all of its troops. The US and NATO have pledged to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by September 11 however they have begun their final withdrawal from the country, after 20 years of war. Earlier this week, U.S. troops left southern Kandahar Air Base, where some NATO forces still remain. At the war's peak, more than 30,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Kandahar, the Taliban heartland. The base in Kandahar was the second-largest US base in Afghanistan, after Bagram north of Kabul. 

While the Taliban avoided engaging US troops, they have furiously attacked Afghan government forces. Violence has rocked several provinces in recent weeks. The grave attack last week killed over 90 people, many of them pupils leaving a girls’ school when a powerful car bomb exploded. The Taliban denied involvement and condemned the attack. 

Intra- Afghan Peace Talks

Previously, the Istanbul conference was scheduled to take place on the issue of Afghan peace in April end but it was postponed indefinitely after the Taliban declined to attend. Earlier this month, the Governments of the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan during the Extended “Troika” held to negotiate and comprehend peaceful settlement in Afghanistan released their joint statements in relevance to rendezvous with representatives of the Islamic Republic negotiating team and of the Taliban. They called on the Afghan Taliban to “fulfil its counter-terrorism commitments” and to ensure that no terrorist organisations use the Afghan soil to harm any other country. The Troika also called on all the parties in the war-torn country to reduce violence and urged the Taliban to not pursue a spring offensive. It reaffirmed that “any peace agreement must include protections for the rights of all Afghans, including women, men, children, victims of war, and minorities, and should respond to the strong desire of all Afghans for economic, social and political development including the rule of law".