Senior Afghan leaders will fly to Doha for talks with the Taliban in the week, because the insurgent group takes a tough stance on negotiations, even warning Turkey against plans to stay some troops in Afghanistan to run and guard Kabul’s main airport.
The eight-member delegation will include senior Afghan peace official Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai, and is predicted to debate the speeding from peace talks, a government official said.
The Taliban didn’t immediately answer requests to discuss the talks, which are broken away from the stalled intra-Afghan negotiations happening between Taliban and Afghan government negotiators within the Qatari capital of Doha.
Taliban warn Turkey
The news of the delegation’s visit came hours after the Taliban warned of “consequences” of plans to stay some Turkish troops in Afghanistan to run and guard Kabul airport after foreign forces pull out.
It was not immediately clear if the Kabul airport matter would be discussed between the Taliban and therefore the senior Afghan delegation, expected to fly to Doha on Friday.
Ankara, which has offered to run and guard the airport within the capital after Nato withdraws, has been in talks with us on financial, political, and logistical support.
Turkey has repeated that the airport must stay hospitable to preserve diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, where a blast rocked Kabul on Tuesday and clashes have intensified across the country.
“If Turkish officials fail to reconsider their decision and continue the occupation of our country, the Islamic Emirate… will take a stand against them,” the Taliban said during a statement, pertaining to Turkey’s plan.
The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan with control from 1996 to 2001, are fighting for 20 years to topple the Western-backed government in Kabul.
Emboldened by the departure of foreign forces by a September target, they’re making a fresh push to surround cities and gain territory.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters after a cupboard meeting on Monday evening that Turkey agreed to some points with US counterparts on running the airport and work towards a deal continues.
“The airport must remain open, be operated. All countries say this. If the airport doesn’t operate, the countries will need to withdraw their diplomatic missions there,” he said.
Talks now involving ministries should be complete by the time US forces leave, a senior Turkish official said. “We still think there’ll be an agreement on the airport. we would like to side with the Afghan people,” the official said.
France calls on its citizens to go away from Afghanistan
The deteriorating situation across Afghanistan led France’s Embassy in Kabul to turn French citizens to go away from Afghanistan on a free flight scheduled for Saturday.
“The French Embassy informs its compatriots who would remain in Afghanistan after July 17 that it’ll not be ready to make sure the safety of their departure,” a press release on the embassy’s website said on Tuesday.
The senior Afghan delegation is predicted to speak to the Taliban a few ceasefires as violence rises across Afghanistan.
Four killed in Kabul blast
Police said a blast rocked a busy area of Kabul on Tuesday, killing four people and wounding five. it had been not clear who was behind the explosion or the target.
Clashes were continuing within the southern province of Kandahar, said Attaullah Atta, a provincial councilor, with the Taliban being pushed back after a bid to interrupt into a city prison. many families had fled the violence, he added.
Mohammad Daoud Farhad, director of Kandahar’s provincial hospital, said it had received eight dead and quite 30 people, mostly civilians, wounded in clashes within the past 24 hours.
Early on Tuesday, Afghan security forces had retreated from the district of Alingar within the eastern province of Laghman, an area government official said on condition of anonymity.
A ceasefire pact with the Taliban within the district fell through in May.
