Taliban attacks undermining intra-Afghan negotiation prospect: EU

The European Union said that the high level of violence by the Taliban following the signing of the agreement with the US in Qatar is “unacceptable”.

Roland Kobia, the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan citing the EU Foreign Ministers and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell Fontelles’ joint statement said that the continued violence undermining the intra-Afghan talks. 

“The unacceptably high level of violence and continued terrorist attacks by the Taliban after Doha is running contrary to the expectations and undermining the prospect for IAN.” Kobia tweeted.

In the past 24 hours, parts of the country have witnessed breathtaking clashes between security forces and the Taliban. Clashes between the Afghan government and the Taliban have escalated, But a Taliban spokesman said all of the group’s fighters are defensive, and the number of attacks had dropped by 60 percent.

In the meantime, people are very concerned about this situation.

“It is the responsibility of the United States to manage the situation and prevent disaster,” said Iqbal Khyber, head of the Helmand peace movement.

At the same time, the NATO SCR to Afghanistan considers the escalation of violence in the country a matter of concern and an obstacle to the start of negotiations between Afghans.

“I’m very concerned about the increase in violence, as the leaders of resolute support are and we all are. The level of violence is simply unacceptable. This level of violence is incompatible with creating a condition trust conducive to good Intra-Afghan negotiations,” said Stefano Pontecorvo, a NATO SCR to Afghanistan.

EU foreign ministers, meanwhile, have said in a joint statement that the increase in Taliban attacks following the Doha agreement is disappointing, stressing that this would weaken the possibility of negotiations between Afghans.

“Operations have been stepped up on both sides. Confidence must be built and the process of releasing prisoners must be accelerated,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander.

Nearly 4,000 Taliban by the government and Taliban have released nearly 700 government prisoners on the eve of talks between the Afghans. But the Afghan government sees progress in this area as dependent on the Taliban to reduce violence