Taliban Hopeful, But Afghan Talks Seen at Risk

With the Afghan government still not coming through with a prisoner release tied to the peace deal, the talks with the Taliban continue to be seen as at risk, with the Taliban continuing to hit government posts.

The Taliban, however, says they remain hopeful of the talks with the Afghan government, and say they are almost certain of positive results once the talks actually happen. That’s not to say there aren’t some serious issues of uncertainty.

The long-term uncertainty centers on the prisoner release. The Taliban has said they view that as a precondition for the talks, and the Ghani government has insisted they view the US promise of a release to be unacceptable.

Having two competing presidential inaugurations in Kabul on Monday doesn’t help either, with Taliban officials saying they’d like a focus on ending the war instead of the internal power struggle. The long-delayed Afghan election ended with both Ghani and Abdullah declaring victory, and instead of talks they’re both just claiming to be president now.