Afghan Government and Taliban Peace Talks End Without Results... Renegotiation Next Week

From the left, Abdullah Abdullah, head of the Afghan government negotiation team and chairman of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation; Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, Qatar's Special Envoy for Counterterrorism and mediator of the negotiations; and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy leader of the Taliban and Taliban negotiation representative.
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] AFP reported on the 18th (local time) that the peace talks in Doha, Qatar, between the Afghan government and the Islamic armed group Taliban ended without any significant results.

Both sides concluded the talks confirming only their intention to hold another meeting next week.

The Afghan negotiation team led by Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation, also stated in a joint statement that they only agreed on "the need to find a solution and to sit at the negotiation table again next week."

Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, Qatar's Foreign Ministry counterterrorism special envoy who acted as mediator, said, "The two sides only agreed on efforts to prevent civilian casualties," adding, "Compared to the previously agreed ceasefire, the (talks' outcome) falls far short." He further stated, "The two sides have agreed to continue high-level negotiations until an agreement is reached," and "They will meet again next week for this purpose."

The Afghan government and the Taliban have been conducting peace talks in Doha since September last year but have not achieved any significant results. In particular, in April, the Taliban declared that they would not participate in peace talks until all foreign troops withdraw from their country, effectively halting negotiations since then. Earlier, the Taliban strongly opposed the Biden administration's decision to withdraw U.S. troops by September 11 instead of the original "withdrawal deadline" of May 1.

The Taliban lost power following the U.S. invasion after the September 11, 2001 attacks but have since regained strength and continued a prolonged conflict with government forces. Especially after the U.S. began withdrawing troops in May, the Taliban have significantly expanded their control. Currently, the Taliban control about half of Afghanistan's 400 districts and have surrounded some key border crossings and important provincial capitals.

Attention is also focused on whether a temporary ceasefire will be declared ahead of 'Eid al-Adha,' one of the two major Islamic holidays. The Taliban have declared short ceasefires during Islamic holidays in recent years. However, the recent joint statement made no official mention of a ceasefire.

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