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US: Violence Threatens Afghan Peace 10/19 06:18
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan warned
Monday that "distressingly high" levels of violence threaten to derail ongoing
peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Zalmay Khalilzad's comments come as renewed fighting for days has plagued
Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, a longtime Taliban stronghold. The
Taliban this Friday agreed to halt its attacks on condition of the U.S.
stopping its airstrikes in the area.
But then came a suicide car bombing Sunday that killed at least 13 people
and wounded around 120 others in Afghanistan's western Ghor province. Though no
one claimed responsibility for the bombing, suspicion immediately fell on the
Taliban.
"Violence has stalked Afghans for far too long. It has robbed far too many
Afghans of their loved ones," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter. "The tragedy in Ghor
today is the most recent example."
He added: "The belief that says violence must escalate to win concessions at
the negotiating table is very risky. Such an approach can undermine the peace
process and repeats past miscalculations by Afghan leaders."
The Taliban offered no immediate reaction to Khalilzad's tweets. However, it
issued a statement Sunday over the U.S. airstrikes targeting Helmand province.
The Taliban warned that "all responsibility and consequences from continuation
of such actions shall fall squarely on the shoulders of the American side."
Omer Zwak, a spokesman for Helmand's provincial governor, said Monday there
were still gun battles in a few areas of the province's Nad Ali and Nawa
districts. The Afghan air force separately conducted limited airstrikes to
support Afghan forces trying to retake Taliban-held areas, Zwak said.
The peace talks in Qatar between the Taliban and Afghan government
negotiators began in September, but after a ceremonious start they became
bogged down, mainly in the minutiae of Islamic jurisprudence. This current
round of negotiations come after a deal in February between the U.S. and the
Taliban that seeks to end America's longest war.
Despite the challenges, the ongoing talks represent the most-serious effort
yet at ending decades of war in Afghanistan that followed the 2001 U.S.-led
invasion that toppled its Taliban government, which then was hosting al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden who planned the Sept. 11 attacks.
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