ISLAMABAD: There is a visible violence spike in Afghanistan in spite of Taliban and Afghan government peace talks in Qatar and calls from the international community to reduce the level of violence in a bid to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to nearly two decade long conflict in the war-torn country.
On Sunday a car bomb blast rocked Kabul, killing at least nine people, according to the Afghan interior ministry. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, while Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a statement urged Taliban to stop violence against civilians and accept a cease-fire to facilitate the current peace process.
In a statement on Tuesday, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid distanced the group from the latest attack in which doctors were targeted, saying the blast in Puli Charkhi has no linkage with the Taliban. He maintained that Taliban fighters do not target health professionals.
The violence in Afghanistan has been increased in recent months, as the Afghan interior ministry in a statement accused the Taliban of killing 487 civilians and injuring 1,049 in 35 suicide attacks and 507 blasts across the country during the last past three months.
According to the assessment by UN mission in Afghanistan, more than 2,100 civilians were killed and more than 3,800 wounded between January and September.
The US has repeatedly raised concerns over the rise in violence in Afghanistan, as the outgoing Trump administration committed to reducing its troops in Afghanistan from around 4,500 to 2,500.
Under the Feb 2020 US-Taliban peace deal, the Trump administration agreed to reduce troops with the condition that Taliban reduce attacks and commit to negotiating an end to war against the Afghan government.
According to analysts, Trump's troop drawdown poses a challenge to President-elect Joe Biden as well who is set to take the oath as 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021.
Senior analyst and expert on Afghan affairs Rahimullah Yusufzai while talking to Business Recorder said the violence in Afghanistan is likely to continue until the complete withdrawal of US troops and peace deal between the warring groups and Afghan government for a future political set up which is acceptable to all Afghans.
"These are pressure tactics with both Taliban and the Afghan government continuing to attack each other's positions in a bid to strengthen their position by capturing more territory," he said, adding that this may pose a challenge for the new US administration.
Further, he added that the Trump administration wants to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan but faces strong resistance from the Pentagon which opposes an unconditional pullout. "We also have to see whether Biden administration would continue with the Trump administration's plans to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan or not," he added.
He further pointed out that there are other groups such as Daesh and those referred to as spoilers who do not want peace in Afghanistan and would continue to create hurdles in restoration of peace in Afghanistan.
The Taliban and Afghan government negotiators recently announced a 20-day break in the intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha and the two sides are expected to resume the next round of peace talks in another venue which has not yet been decided.
The Afghan government wants peace talks to be held within Afghanistan, while Taliban insist on a 'neutral' country, with a number of countries including, China, Russia, Norway, Tajikistan and Iran offering to host the next round of the intra-Afghan negotiations.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
Comments
Comments are closed.