I Hope Peace Deal Reached with Taliban before Upcoming Presidential Election: Khalilzad
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters Sunday in Kabul that the Taliban believes it cannot win the war militarily.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters Sunday in Kabul that the Taliban believes it cannot win the war militarily.
However, the top US military officer Gen. Dunford said Saturday that the Taliban “are not losing” in Afghanistan, and much more needs to be done to bring peace to the war-torn country.
Khalilzad said he hopes a peace deal is reached before April 20 presidential elections and called on the Taliban to use it as an opportunity.
He said he believes there is the potential for peace in Afghanistan and that the end state of peace talks would be ‘peace, a successful Afghanistan, one that doesn’t pose any threats to itself and to the international community’.
He also said that the Taliban might bring changes to its team of negotiators and that he remains “cautiously optimistic” and “hopeful” about the talks.
This comes as Khalilzad just returned to Kabul after three days of talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
