Taliban Urges Afghan Government to Surrender... "We Don't Want Urban Warfare"

Prospect of Peace Talks Resuming on the 16th in Doha, Qatar
Taliban Claims "Control of 85% of Afghanistan's Entire Territory"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Afghan armed group Taliban is reportedly showing signs of resuming bilateral peace negotiations, including urging the Afghan government to surrender. Representatives from both sides are scheduled to meet in Doha, Qatar for talks, with keen attention focused on whether the Afghan government will surrender as the Taliban has urged.

According to Al Jazeera on the 14th, Amir Khan Muttaqi, a senior leader within the Taliban, stated on his Twitter account the previous day, "The battles that crossed mountains and deserts have reached the city gates," adding, "We do not want urban warfare and hope the opponent will surrender." Here, the city refers to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, indicating that the Taliban has already completed the siege of Kabul and is urging surrender.

In fact, the Taliban is known to be surrounding cities near Kabul. Earlier last weekend, the Afghan Ministry of Interior announced that a rocket defense system had been installed in the capital Kabul and expressed confidence in defending the city. Al Jazeera also reported that thousands of civilians have already fled within Kabul.

There are also movements to resume peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government forces. According to major foreign media on the same day, a delegation of eight senior Afghan government officials is heading to Doha, Qatar this week to set up a negotiation table with the Taliban. The government delegation includes Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, and former President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban side is also reportedly forming its own senior delegation to meet with the government representatives around the 16th.

Some suggest that if most of Afghanistan is occupied by the Taliban as claimed, and with the U.S. military withdrawal nearly complete, the Afghan government forces may choose to surrender. Earlier, on the 9th, a Taliban delegation dispatched to Moscow, Russia, claimed to the Russian side, "We have won successive victories in ground battles, and with the U.S. withdrawal, we currently control 85% of Afghan territory," raising concerns about the fall of Kabul. However, there are conflicting claims about the extent to which the Taliban actually controls the entire country of Afghanistan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.