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US 'aiding Afghan-Taliban
talks'
Three Nato soldiers killed in western
Afghanistan amid reports that US is facilitating
reconciliation talks. |
The US military is reportedly allowing the
free movement of senior Taliban leaders to attend peace talks
in the Afghan capital, in what is probably the clearest
indication that the Obama administration will publicly support
negotiations aimed at ending the nine-year conflict.
The New York Times reported on Thursday, quoting a senior Nato
official, that "there has been outreach by very senior members
of the Taliban to the highest levels of the Afghan
government".
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Though the talks are preliminary, he said, the prospect
of negotiating a settlement of the war effort, is
alluring enough that Nato personnel "have indeed
facilitated to various degrees the contacts" by allowing
Taliban leaders to travel to the Afghan capital.
The revelation comes amid public backing by the White
House of the idea of Afghan reconciliation talks with
the Taliban, just before Hamid Karzai said that his
government had been holding such talks for "quite some
time".
Al Jazeera Sue Turton, reporting from Kabul, said that
the movement of senior Taliban leaders based in Pakistan
has been very difficult, therefore the Karzai government
has resorted to talking to leaders in Afghanistan.
"It's mainly been about talking about talks, but if the
Taliban want to talk further, the Afghan government says
they must abide by its three conditions - the laying
down of arms, to cut ties with al-Qaeda, and to respect
the Afghan constitution, particularly human rights."
Karzai's claims
Against this backdrop, Karzai has told Al Jazeera's
Frost over the World programme - to be aired on Friday -
that he has held face-to-face meetings with senior
members of the Taliban.
"I have had personal meetings with some Taliban leaders
and my colleagues from my government have had some
meetings in and outside Afghanistan with the Taliban,"
he told Al Jazeera's David Frost.
"These have mostly been unofficial after contact was
initiated, countryman to countryman talks. But now is
the time for us to begin to talk with the Taliban at a
fixed address and with a more open agenda to tell us how
to bring peace to Afghanistan and Pakistan."
The UN Security Council has extended Isaf's mandate in
Afghanistan for another 12 months [EPA]
The Taliban has always publicly denied that its leaders
are in talks, and on Wednesday the group again denied it
is holding peace talks with the Afghan government.
In a statement the Taliban said that Karzai's claims
that such talks are being held are "baseless
propaganda".
The developments came as three soldiers from the Isaf
force were killed in a home-made bomb explosion in
western Afghanistan, according to a statement from the
Nato-led force on Thursday.
Isaf, or the International Security Assistance Force,
did not immediately provide details on the nationalities
of the casualties or on the attacks.
Troops from the US, Italy, Spain and Lithuania are based
in western Afghanistan.
Thursday's deaths brought to 584 the number of foreign
soldiers killed this year, eclipsing the previous record
of 521 in 2009. The AFP tally is based on a count by the
independent website icasualties.org.
At least 35 foreign soldiers have died in Afghanistan
this month alone.
Six US soldiers were killed in attacks on Wednesday and
four Italian soldiers in a single bombing in western
Afghanistan last week.
Surge in deaths
The surge in military deaths has followed the deployment
of about 40,000 extra US and Nato troops under a White
House strategy designed to clear major towns and cities
of the Taliban and restore confidence in the government.
The increased deployment also comes as the UN Security
Council extended Isaf's mandate for another 12 months.
The council expressed concern about the push by the
Taliban, al-Qaeda and other groups and with "the
increased high number of civilian casualties in
Afghanistan, in particular women and children
casualties".
But the 15 nation body unanimously voted for a
resolution extending the Isaf's mission until October
13, 2011.
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