KABUL/PESHAWAR: As US and
Taliban negotiators push to wrap up talks aimed at securing the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, disagreement remains about whether a pact will mean an end to the insurgents’ fight with the US-backed
Afghan government.The US and
Taliban officials have been negotiating in Qatar since last year on an agreement centred on the withdrawal of US forces, and an end to their longest-ever war, in exchange for a
Taliban guarantee that international militant groups will not plot from
Afghan soil.US negotiators have been pressing the
Taliban to agree to peace talks with the Kabul government and to a ceasefire, but a senior
Taliban official said that would not happen.“We will continue our fight against the
Afghan government and seize power by force,” a
Taliban commander was quoted as saying by a British wire service.US President Donald Trump is impatient to get US forces out of Afghanistan and end the 18-year war that was launched after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.But there are fears among
Afghan officials and US national security aides that a US troop withdrawal could see Afghanistan plunged into a new round of civil war that could herald a return of
Taliban rule and international militants, including Islamic State, finding a refuge.Another
Taliban commander, who also declined to be identified, said a
deal was
expected to be signed
this week under which US forces, which provide all-important air support to
Afghan troops, will stop attacking the
Taliban and the militants would end their fight against the US troops.Under the pact, the United States would also cease supporting the
Afghan government, the
Taliban officials said.“The Americans will not come to the assistance of the
Afghan government and its forces in their fight against us,” the first
Taliban official said.Zalmay Khalilzad, the veteran Afghan-American diplomat who has been leading negotiations on the US side, however rejected the suggestion that US forces would no longer support the Kabul government, saying “no one should be intimidated or fooled by propaganda”.“Let me be clear: We will defend
Afghan forces now and after any agreement with the Talibs,” he wrote on Twitter in reaction to the report. “All sides agree Afghanistan’s future will be determined in intra-Afghan negotiations,” he said.“A ceasefire between the
Afghan forces and the
Taliban requires a separate agreement and deliberations are yet to begin,” said one diplomat who has monitored the Qatar talks.“The US-Taliban agreement will stop US from conducting air strikes on the Taliban, and the
Taliban will stop insider attacks on the US and other foreign soldiers,” the diplomat said.One Western diplomat said preparations were being made for talks between the rival
Afghan sides in Norway. A group of at least 30 Afghans had been identified by the government and its allies to talk to the Taliban.Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the
Taliban political office in Doha, said negotiations had gone on late into Sunday. Most issues had been resolved but a formal agreement had yet to be concluded, he said.
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