Taliban say discussed Afghan peace with US’s Pompeo

The Afghan Taliban militant group says the head of its political office in the Qatari capital, Doha, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed Afghan peace.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in a Tweet on Tuesday that Mullah Baradar and Pompeo discussed the full implementation of a February agreement and the withdrawal of foreign troops as well as the release of prisoners, intra-Afghan talks, and a reduction in fighting during a video-conference on Monday.

“Baradar once again reiterated that the Taliban are committed not to let [sic] anyone use Afghan soil (to launch attacks) against any country,” he said.

According to the Taliban spokesman, Pompeo acknowledged that the militant group had “lowered the war graph by not attacking cities and major military bases” but said more needed to be done by all parties.

During the video conference, Baradar blamed the Kabul government for causing a delay in peace talks by not freeing the agreed number of prisoners, Shaheen said.

A prisoner swap is underway between Kabul and the Taliban as part of the deal between the militants and the United States, which was signed in Doha on February 29. Under the deal, the militant group agreed to halt attacks on international forces in return for the US military’s phased withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Afghan government, which was not a signatory to the US-Taliban accord, was required to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The militants, for their part, were obliged to free 1,000 government captives.

While the Afghan government has been releasing Taliban prisoners, it has balked at releasing some of the members tied to deadly attacks.

Western states back Kabul’s refusal to free dangerous Taliban prisoners: Report

Western countries reportedly back the Afghan government’s refusal of a demand by the Taliban group to release those of its members imprisoned for violent attacks.

Javid Faisal, the spokesman for Afghanistan’s national security adviser, said on Tuesday that the Taliban militants had launched 44 attacks and killed or wounded an average of 24 civilians each day since the Doha agreement.

In his conference with Pompeo, Baradar blamed the increased attacks on alleged provocation by the government in Taliban-held areas, Shaheen said.

Afghan talks likely to start soon: Pakistani envoy

Also on Monday, Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul said intra-Afghan talks were expected to begin soon so long as the final issues were resolved.

Zahid Nasrullah Khan told Reuters in an interview that he was “cautiously optimistic” and that negotiations could start next month.

“The two important things are the level of violence — that it should be kept low to have an enabling environment — and to reach that magic figure of 5,000 prisoners (released),” he said.

He expressed concern, though, about increasing violence.

At least 23 civilians, including children, were killed and several others injured when a barrage of rockets fell on a cattle market in the southern province of Helmand on Monday.

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