Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad to discuss irritants in Afghan peace talks

ISLAMABAD: The US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Monday to discuss with the Pakistan leadership irritants related to the Afghan peace talks.
Khalilzad, who had attended the inaugural sessions of the Doha dialogue between the Afghan government and Taliban, is accompanied by a three-member delegation of senior US officials. He and his team will hold consultations with Pakistan’s top political and military leaders on the reconciliation process.
Observers believe Khalilzad and US officials will ask Pakistan, specifically its military leadership, to influence the insurgents to give up violence, show flexibility in their stance and agree to a truce.
The US envoy, according to sources, will also discuss with Pakistani leaders the next phase of the peace process.
During the Doha talks, known as intra-Afghan negotiations, representatives of the two sides accused each other of staging fresh battlefield attacks. Officials in Afghanistan said that contrary to their expectations, the start of the peace dialogue in Doha had not reduced the insurgent violence. Scores of people were reportedly killed in clashes between the Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents, including combatants from both sides and civilians, on Saturday and Sunday. “Unfortunately, the level of Taliban violence and offensive attacks on ANDSF (Afghan National Defence and Security Forces) and Afghan civilians have not decreased,” said Fawad Aman, the Afghan defence ministry’s spokesperson.
Ending the violence in Afghanistan remains a major challenge for the negotiating teams of the Taliban and the Kabul government.
The Afghan government, the US and allies have stressed on a truce with the Taliban but the start of the peace dialogue in Doha had not reduced the insurgent violence.
The Taliban, however, did not mention a truce as they came to the negotiating table. Taliban officials insisted that establishment of “an Islamic government” in Afghanistan and the release of thousands of insurgent prisoners from government custody are the priority issues for them.