US envoy says new date for intra-Afghan peace talks under discussion

A new date for intra-Afghan peace talks is under discussion, the US special envoy for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday.

The talks were set to begin on March 10 under a US-Taliban peace agreement inked in late February, but have been delayed by the slow pace of prisoner releases, disagreements over the Afghan government’s composition and violence.

Khalilzad told reporters he would be travelling to Afghanistan again soon “to push for de-escalation, to push for reduction of violence, and to push for accelerating the release of prisoners.”

The agreement foresaw the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 pro-government prisoners before the peace talks commence.

Khalilzad said “some progress” had been made on prisoner releases, but the threat of the new coronavirus made the process even more urgent.

The envoy also said it would be best if the talks begin while the US still has “substantial forces” in Afghanistan.

The US-Taliban deal – in which the government in Kabul was not involved – paves the way for the withdrawal of all international troops from Afghanistan within 14 months.

Deadly attacks on a maternity ward in Kabul and funeral ceremony in Nangarhar province on Tuesday raised concerns over a collapse of the US peace effort, and Khalilzad warned further escalation “would undermine, complicate the moves to intra-Afghan negotiations and the prisoners’ release.”

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Khalilzad repeated the US assessment that the extremist militia organization Islamic State was responsible for both attacks.

“There are forces such as ISIS that doesn’t see peace in Afghanistan in its interests and are trying to increase violence, to undermine the prospect for peace,” he said. (dpa)