Negotiations In Doha: Afghan Politicians And Taliban Meet

In Doha, peace talks between negotiators have been going on since September last but they have failed to make sizeable progress. Foreign troops are to exit completely from Afghanistan by September 11.

Afghan politicians met Taliban representatives in Qatar on Saturday (July 17). Both sides called for peace even as fighting went on in Afghanistan between Taliban and Afghan government. As US-led international forces began their withdrawal May onwards, Taliban has been aggressively launching offensives, taking districts and border crossing and encircling provincial capitals.

In southern Kandahar, Taliban has seized Spin Boldak, an area that borders Pakistan. However, the Afghan government claimed that it had regained control of the border crossing.

Reuters journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday (July 16) while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the area.

Officials on the Pakistan side of the border said the crossing had opened on Saturday, allowing hundreds of Afghans stranded in Pakistan during the fighting to return.

More than 2,000 people were displaced in Kandahar this month, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian agency, and Kandahar’s provincial governor on Friday evening declared a curfew in Kandahar city at night due to the fighting.

The U.N. refugee agency estimates 270,000 Afghans have been displaced inside the country since January, bringing the number of people forced from their homes to more than 3.5 million.