Amid reports of progress in the recent round of US-Taliban talks in Qatar, some Afghan politicians stressed on Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process and said backdoor talks could have some sort of implications on future of Afghans and on achievements the country has made in the past 18 years.   

Addressing a ceremony in Parwan province on Thursday, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that any deal on peace which is made in the absence of the Afghan people will be unacceptable for the people and government of Afghanistan.

He said the Taliban still does not have a commitment for peace.

“If the genuine voice of the people whether inside or outside the government is heard, in that case, we will see that who favors peace and who insists on war,” said Abdullah. “The environment is not an environment to make a deal in the absence of the people of Afghanistan or say it is implementable in Afghanistan.”

Former Vice President Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, who addressed the same event, said Afghans are still remained remain unware about the details of these talks. 

“What will be the fate of the Afghan women, what will happen to the future of the Afghan youths, what will happen to the gains we achieved over the past eighteen years and what will be the price of the blood of our martyrs?” asked Qanooni, who attended the Moscow meeting with the Taliban late in February.

Afghan people have the right to be aware about the decisions which will determine their future, he said.

“People have the right to ask that where they will be taken to, what will be the future of Taliban’s red unit?” he asked, adding that the future of Taliban’s fighters should be clarified in the peace process.

This comes two days after US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad wrapped a marathon round of talks with the Taliban negotiators in Doha where the two sides reached agreement in draft on troop withdrawal and counterterrorism assurances.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban’s deputy leader and head of the group’s Qatar office, has said in an audio interview that he is optimistic about the progresses made in Qatar talks.

Baradar said he hopes that political and Jihadi leaders, in Afghanistan, will not leave the country and will not stand against them (the Taliban), because, according to him, the political and Jihadi figures as well as the Taliban have many experiences from the past.

The Afghan government which has been out of the talks over Taliban’s persistent denials have constantly warned that the peace talks with the Taliban would never lead to lasting peace unless there is a role for the Afghan govt and people in talks with the Taliban.

The US Department of State said the Taliban in talks with the US negotiators have agreed that peace will require both sides to fully address four core issues, including counterterrorism assurances, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a comprehensive ceasefire.

 Last month President Ashraf Ghani has said that the neighbors of Afghanistan and US can talk and reach agreement with any Afghan group but his government cannot be sidelined in the process.