Kabul will hold delayed parliamentary polls in Oct.
Kabul will hold delayed parliamentary polls in Oct.
A second round of four-country talks aimed at reviving peace negotiations with the Taliban was held in Kabul on Monday, even as the insurgents wage an unprecedented winter campaign of violence across Afghanistan.
Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States convened in the Afghan capital for a one-day meeting seeking a negotiated end to the bloody 14-year insurgency.
“The people of Afghanistan will not accept a prolonged peace process with no results,” Afghan foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani said at the meeting. “On behalf of the people and government of Afghanistan, I urge all Taliban groups to accept our peace message and come to the negotiating table and resolve our differences politically.”
The first round of the “roadmap” talks was held in Islamabad last week as the four nations try to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Islamist group.
Taliban representatives were notably absent in both rounds and analysts caution that any substantive talks are still a long way off.
The Taliban has stepped up attacks on government and foreign targets in Afghanistan this winter, when fighting usually abates, underscoring a worsening security situation.
Late Sunday a rocket launched by the militants landed very close to the Italian embassy compound. The foreign ministry in Rome reported no casualties and said it was unsure if their compound was the target. “The participants of the (Kabul meeting) once again emphasised the need for an end to the senseless violence against the Afghan people,” the four-country group said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s top election officials on Monday said the country will hold postponed parliamentary elections, after l June 2015 deadline to choose a new assembly was missed because of political squabbling.
Parliament’s five-year term expired in June 2015, but elections were postponed because of security fears and disagreements on how to ensure a fair vote after a bitterly disputed presidential election in 2014.
