Afghanistan: 'Secret' Talks with Taliban Offer Little Promise
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 11 November 2016 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 22 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Afghanistan: 'Secret' Talks with Taliban Offer Little Promise, 11 November 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 22, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/582b2d9a4.html [accessed 9 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Reports the Taliban has held two rounds of "secret" discussions with Afghan government officials have raised hopes that peace talks could be revived, but internal divisions within the group and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan suggest such talks remain only a remote possibility.
The talks were held in September and October in the Taliban's "political office" in Qatar, which the group has maintained since 2013. While the Taliban has issued no official confirmation on the subject, the Afghan government has since acknowledged they took place (ToloNews, November 7).
Present at the discussions were Mullah Abdul Manan Akhund, brother of the late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, and Afghanistan's spy chief, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai. The presence of Manan lends the talks some gravitas. He was brought into the Taliban leadership in recent months in a move aimed at healing rifts within the group (Afghanistan Times, September 16). A U.S. official was also present at the talks, according to British newspaper The Guardian, which first reported the discussions (The Guardian, October 18).
Peace talks with the Taliban have been at a standstill since former Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a U.S. drone strike in May, but the group is unlikely to favor talks now at a time when they are enjoying success on the ground in Afghanistan. In the last month, the group has again made bloody gains in Kunduz. Meanwhile, local politicians in Uruzgan province report that Taliban fighters have besieged scores of Afghan troops for nearly two months (ToloNews, November 4; ToloNews, November 6).
Indeed, there appears to have been little progress in the Qatar discussions (Daily Times, October 19). Following the talks, however, the group dispatched three senior officials – including former Taliban ambassador Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar – to Pakistan (Express Tribune, October 23). The Taliban have played down that trip as a regular visit, but Pakistan appears not to have had a presence at the Qatar meeting and likely expected to be involved.
In recent months the Pakistani security services have arrested a number of Taliban leaders for reasons that are not wholly clear (Express Tribune, October 12). Some suggest the arrests may be aimed at pushing the Taliban towards peace talks. A less charitable view is that the arrests are a warning to the group from the security services – a reminder to the group's leadership at a time when some in are calling for the group to break its ties with Pakistan (Khaama, October 22). Either way, with the Taliban's divisions still not fully healed and the group redoubling its efforts on the ground, the prospect of peace talks remains far off.
