KABUL (AFGHANISTAN) – Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban will begin in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. They are aimed at bringing to an end 19 years of conflict which has ravaged the country and killed tens of thousands, including civilians.
The conflict with the Taliban also saw the intervention of the US, proving bothersome to three successive presidents.
According to diplomats and officials, the path to peace is still a long way away although getting both sides for negotiations is a big achievement.
“The negotiations will have to tackle a range of profound questions about the kind of country Afghans want,” Deborah Lyons, the United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan, told the Security Council this month.
The talks are taking place after months of delay as a dispute regarding the Taliban demand for the release of 5,000 prisoners from Afghan jails was resolved this week.
The peace talks will get underway with an inauguration ceremony attended by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The summit takes place a day after the 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US which led to Washington sending troops to Afghanistan.
A month after the attack, US President George W Bush sent troops to hunt down the mastermind Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who was given refuge by the Taliban.
Ahead of the US presidential poll in November, President Donald Trump is seeking ways to display progress in his pledge to end US involvement in Afghanistan and to pull out most of the troops stationed there.
