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Progress stalls in Afghan peace talks as sides ‘await Biden’
Afghan peace talks that resumed four days ago are effectively on hold, sources from both sides said on Wednesday, as negotiators wait for President-elect Joe Biden to signal whether he will stick to Donald Trump’s aggressive schedule to pull out troops, Reuters reported.
This comes after a month-long break, which saw most, but not all, negotiators return to Doha last week for the resumption of talks.
A diplomatic source in Kabul told Reuters on Wednesday that expectations were low for progress before Biden takes office on January 20.
The sides “do not want to commit to anything before the 20th. They wanted to have the process going in the meantime because that was one of the requirements of the international community, so they have the process. But it is stagnant,” the diplomatic source said.
In an agreement signed between the US and the Taliban last year, Washington agreed to a full withdrawal by April this year.
The agreement was however conditions based and the Taliban is expected to meet certain security conditions before the last of the troops leave Afghanistan.
The Afghan government says these conditions have not been met while Biden and his advisors have so far given few clues as to their plans.
“We are waiting for the new US administration and their policies towards Afghanistan to see whether they would respect the peace accord,” a Taliban negotiator told Reuters on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly.
“If they don’t honour their commitment of withdrawing their forces as promised…then we would need to make tough decisions by appointing hardliners to key positions on the ground.”
After months of little progress, the sides finally agreed ground rules for talks late last year. The talks then broke up in December, in part to allow negotiators to return home for consultations with their leadership.
The sides announced last week they would re-start talks on Saturday. But so far only limited meetings between smaller teams called ‘contact groups’ have taken place, three diplomatic and Afghan government sources told Reuters.
About four key members of the Taliban negotiating team were not yet in Qatar, the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters.
He said this was due to logistical issues travelling from remote areas where they were visiting family. They would arrive in the next few days and the delay would not affect the talks.
Some Afghan government negotiators were also not yet in Doha. One, who has been receiving treatment for cancer, told Reuters she planned to travel there this week.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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