Voice of America, 30 June 2018
In a report about President Ghani ending the unilateral ceasefire with the Taleban, the US government-funded radio station writes, quoting AAN research:
But observers have been and remain skeptical of Afghan government-led efforts to engage in a peace process with the Taliban, saying the group sees the U.S. as its main adversary in the war and it has also been campaigning to be recognized a “political party to the conflict” by the United Nations.
“For all these reasons, it is impossible to imagine the Taliban taking up Ghani’s offer to function as a political party and participate in the elections in the current political system,” noted Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) in its a post-cease-fire study explaining hurdles to Afghan peace talks.
“They (the Taliban) want to be recognized as a party to the conflict, on a par with the U.S. and without saying so, as officially the Kabul government is for them just a puppet of the Americans, the Afghan government. This role, they believe, gives them the option of playing their military hand, including their still expanding control of territory and population in a future political deal that necessarily would include a sharing of power,” observed the Kabul-based AAN.
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Mar 2020
