Afghanistan to Attend Next Round of Peace Talks

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan is trying to reassure the U.S.-backed government in Kabul that it will not be shut out of a peace process with the Taliban, after it complained of being side-lined from talks, officials said on Friday.

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan is trying to reassure the U.S.-backed government in Kabul that it will not be shut out of a peace process with the Taliban, after it complained of being side-lined from talks, officials said on Friday.
The U.S. envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, wants representatives of Afghan society to join talks aimed at ending the 17-year war between the Western-backed government and the Islamist Taliban, who were ousted from power by U.S.-led forces in 2001.
Khalilzad met Taliban leaders in Qatar last month to try to push talks forward but the Taliban have long rejected direct talks with the Afghan government.
The quadrilateral summit on peace in Afghanistan was also held in Abu Dhabi last week.
Khalilzad expressed satisfaction about the meeting.
“Ghani and many Afghan politicians felt that the U.S. was shutting them out of the peace talks,” said a close aide to Ghani. Reuters Reported.
“Khalilzad cleared the differences by meeting top Afghan politicians, civil society members and women to prove that U.S. will not isolate Afghans during next round of peace talks,” he said. according to the source.
President Ghani’s office declined to comment.
The Taliban are fighting to expel foreign forces and defeat the Western-backed government.
“We’re watching every diplomatic move of the U.S. officials. We’ll continue our fight until the U.S. accepts our demands,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman.