‘Taliban Proved Has No Will for Peace’: Senators

Following the stalemated peace talks between the U.S. and the Taliban, a number of Afghan senators on Sunday said that the Taliban has proved that “has no will for peace” in Afghanistan.

The members of Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of the parliament) said the peace talks with Taliban would not yield positive results after the armed group refused to talk with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad.

They urged the government to increase military operations against the Taliban in the ongoing winter season.

“It has been cleared that the Taliban has no will for peace and military operations proved effective against them. These operations should continue so that the Taliban feel the pressure and enter into the peace process,” said Senator Mohaiyuddin Munsif.

“Taliban does not believe in peace. The peace talks are only a deception of the government and the security forces, especially in the winter season,” said Senator Gulalai Akbari. “Peace talks will not yield results because there is no honesty but lie.”

The senators stressed that the countries which have security agreements with Afghanistan should deliver on their promises.

The Meshrano Jirga members made the remarks as they were expected to go for a 45-day winter break.

This comes as the U.S. officials have so far held at least three round of talks with the Taliban representatives including in Qatar and UAE to make way for direct peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

However, the Taliban has rejected the repeated requests from regional powers to sit for negotiation with the Afghan government, asserting the U.S. is their main adversary.