Intra Afghan peace Talk | textpound

 Intra Afghan peace Talk

 Intra Afghan peace Talk

WITH the last hitch removed, the elusive intra-Afghan dialogue is now likely to take place next week to discuss the country’s political future that could bring an end to the two-decade-long American war in Afghanistan. It will be the most critical phase of the Afghan peace process with the representatives of the Kabul government for the first time sitting face to face with the Taliban leadership.

President Ashraf Ghani last week passed an order to release the remaining batch of 400 Afghan Taliban prisoners thus clearing the final hurdle for the start of the negotiations between the two sides. The Feb 29 peace accord between the Taliban and the United States had pledged to release 5,000 insurgent prisoners.

While releasing most of the detainees, the government in Kabul was reluctant to free what it described as hardcore fighters; 156 of these prisoners had been sentenced to death. The president’s consent came after a consultative assembly or Loya Jirga, which met last week, gave its approval. There was also American pressure behind the move. It’s apparent that the Trump administration does not want any delay in its plan to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan.

In fact, the drawdown of US troops had started soon after the signing of the peace deal between the US and the Taliban. The number of American troops has now dropped to approximately 8,600 from about 13,000 and five bases have been closed in Afghanistan.