Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish on Friday said that an increase in Taliban violence amidst the ongoing peace negotiations indicates a contrast in Taliban’s approach towards peace.
At least 24 security force members were killed in Taliban attacks in Nimroz and Kunduz provinces on Thursday evening. The group launched attacks in 24 provinces on Thursday, including Takhar, Helmand, Uruzgan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Laghman, Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Kandahar, Zabul, Herat, Farah, Badghis, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul and Badakhshan provinces, according to Defense Ministry.
Danish said that increasing violence amidst talks “shows that the Taliban is thinking about its military success by prolonging the negotiations, but this is a wrong calculation.”
He said that “resistance” by the people against the Taliban will increase unexpectedly if the group is thinking they will win militarily.
The negotiations in Doha, involving teams from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban, started in September. The two sides have not started direct negotiations but have held at least 10 meetings in contact group levels.
Another Afghan politician, Mohammad Mohaqiq, the chairman of the People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, said at the same event that accepting the republic by the Taliban is the only guarantee that can prove that the group’s ideology has changed.
Mohaqiq said that a continued disagreement on the procedural rules of the talks shows that the Taliban’s ideology has not changed.
“This is the 40th or 41st day that the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan are in Qatar, but so far, an agreement has not been achieved on the roadmap for the negotiations,” said Mohaqiq.
Meanwhile, Atta Mohammad Noor, the CEO of Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, who visited New Delhi this week said Afghanistan is ready to improve its ties with Pakistan if Islamabad proves that it considers Afghanistan’s stability in favor of the region.
“It has not been predicted that the peace negotiations will be successful, but India as a country in the region has a major role in the process. We want India to be part of this process,” said Noor.