Is the Government-Taliban talk deadlocked again?

The Taliban spokesman has said the group has no contact with the Afghan government after the disputes over the prisoner releases. But a member of the government’s focal point said that efforts were underway to resume talks with the Taliban to start the Intra-Afghan talks.

Aminuddin Mozaffari, a member of the government’s focal point, said: “It has not been seriously hung up. Efforts are being made to resume these contacts resolving some differences.”

After disagreements between the government and the Taliban over the releases of the prisoners, sources now report that the contact between the Taliban and the government has been cut off, the contacts which were mediated by the United States and Qatar.

Reportedly the Afghan government has released 71 more prisoners of the Taliban, however, bringing the total number of the released prisoners to 432 to date. The Taliban has also released 61 prisoners of the government.

On the other hand, more than 20 security forces have been killed in very recent Taliban attacks in Logar, Sar-e-Pul, and other parts of the country.

This comes as, in the course of efforts for war and peace, some media outlets have developed a supportive plan to maintain and back the freedom of expression at all levels of the peace bringing process.

“The plan has three stages, all emphasizing the protection of the freedom of expression in the whole process of the peace talks,” said Najib Sharifi, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The main dispute arose when the Taliban demanded the release of 15 senior members of the group followed by the government’s refusal noting that the at least five of the wanted had been involved in serious crimes and deadly attacks, including the ones in Shah Shahid, Zanbaq Roundabout, Intercontinental Hotel, to name a few.