The
Taliban have rejected Afghan government claims the enemies could meet for groundbreaking talks with in a fortnight. Abdul Salam Rahimi, Afghanistan's state minister for peace affairs, told AP that a 15-member government delegation will meet the insurgents in Europe. The Taliban quickly denied any meeting however, saying there would be no talks until it had agreed a timetable with America for the withdrawal of US troops. Zalmay Khalilzad, Donald Trump's envoy for peace in Afghanistan, seemed to back the Taliban position. He said: “Lot of chatter in
Kabul about intra-Afghan negotiations. To clarify, those negotiations will occur after we conclude our own agreements.” Taliban envoys are due to meet US negotiators in the coming days Credit: Getty Such talks would take place between militant leaders and a broad negotiating team of “senior government officials, key political party representatives, civil society and women”. The Taliban have long refused formal talks with Ashraf Ghani's administration, deriding it as an America puppet government. Kabul officials met the insurgent envoys in Doha earlier this month to try to break the ice, but attended in a “personal capacity”. Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, said "there has been no agreement on such a meeting and that has not been coordinated with Taliban." Mr Ghani's government has been sidelined for the past year as America and the Taliban have repeatedly met in Doha. Their talks are set to overshadowing campaigning for September's presidential elections. As the two-month campaign began, Mr Ghani told a rally “Peace is coming and the negotiations will take place”. America and the Taliban have tried to come up with a deal whereby US troops withdraw from their 18-year-campaign, while the Taliban guarantee that
Afghanistan would not become a launchpad for international terrorism. The two sides have so far been unable to agree on a timetable for withdrawal, with the Taliban wanting US troops out in a matter of months, and the US wanting a longer withdrawal based on whether a peace deal sticks. They are due to meet again in the coming days. Both sides are continuing aggressive military operations while talking.