Taliban and Afghans unable to agree ceasefire deal during peace talks in Qatar

Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures for a second day in Qatar on Sunday, and one participant said the two sides discussed a possible ceasefire but ultimately disagreed over the continued presence of U.S. troops in the country. The United States and Pakistan, long-regarded by critics as sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban, both welcomed the closed-door talks aimed at ending an insurgency that has raged in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed forces drove the Taliban from power in 2001. The informal talks, hosted by Qatar’s foreign ministry, came as fighting escalated after the withdrawal of most U.S. and allied troops.

The Afghan delegation and Qayyum Kochai, uncle of (Afghan) President Ashraf Ghani, demanded we stop our fighting and announce a ceasefire. They called us brothers and advised us to come to Afghanistan and obey the Afghan constitution.

Afghan Taliban spokesman

The Taliban recently launched an offensive in northern Afghanistan that brought its fighters to the outskirts of Kunduz city, a provincial capital. Participants in Sunday’s meeting in Al-Khor, a seaside town north of Doha, emerged from the venue smiling and laughing on Sunday but refused to talk to waiting reporters. The Afghan government has made no official statement on the meetings, though a member of the country’s High Peace Council confirmed a delegation would attend meetings in Qatar with the Taliban. Taliban and Afghan sources said the Qatar dialogue was also attended by representatives of several countries including the United States, China and Pakistan.

Peace in Afghanistan is imperative for peace in the region.

Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, foreign secretary of Pakistan

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