Progress on the Afghan peace process took a hit last week when a planned
meeting between Taliban and Afghan government delegations was canceled.
The Afghan government did not attend the meeting.
UN Afghan mission chief Tadamichi Yamamoto is trying to get the process back on track, and was in Doha on Thursday, meeting with Mullah Baradar and other members of the Taliban negotiation team.
Talks focused on advancing the peace process, improving access to
humanitarian aid, and reducing civilian casualties. Ironically this
comes just a day after a report showing civilian casualties from Afghan
attacks are on the decline, and that most civilians are being killed in US and allied attacks.
The Taliban has shown willingness to meet with US and UN officials
increasingly often as talks have progressed, but only once expressed
willingness to meet with the Ghani government. With that meeting having
failed, its unclear when that will happen again.
Top UN Official Meets Taliban Negotiators in Qatar
Talks aimed at advancing peace process after Afghan govt no-show at last meeting
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
