Afghan peace efforts underway in Doha by Envoys of different countries

Mansoor Ahmad Khan is part of the Pakistani delegation attending the meeting of the “Extended Troika on the Peaceful Settlement in Afghanistan” said Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq is leading his country’s delegation.

“Pakistan believes there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict and a peaceful resolution of all hostilities requires serious negotiations among all Afghan stakeholders for an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan,” he added.

In a social media account, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem confirmed and said that the Taliban political representatives met special envoys from the US, China, Russia and Pakistan on Friday.

Sharing details of the meeting, He said it was discussed about the release of remaining Taliban prisoners and removing names of the insurgent group’s leadership from the United Nation’s blacklist and the US rewards list.

Naeem claimed that all stakeholders are agreed to initiate practical work to end sanctions on the Taliban leaders.

Pakistani team in talks with the Taliban

In another development, a Pakistani official told Diplomatic Star on condition of anonymity that a Pakistani delegation had gone to Qatar on Wednesday to meet the Taliban political envoys and “convince them to show flexibility in intra-Afghan talks and reduce violence.”

The Taliban last month floated a proposal for a three-month reduction in violence to create a conducive environment for talks, though the initiative could not go too far after United States President Joe Biden announced a delayed troop withdrawal that would finish by September 11.

Pakistan said on Thursday it had always maintained that it could not control the Taliban.

“We will continue encouraging them to remain engaged in the peace process leading to an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement in Afghanistan,” foreign office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said at his weekly news briefing.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is also in Doha to attend the meeting.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen confirmed in a Twitter post that Khalilzad interacted with the political representatives of the insurgent group on Thursday and discussed the latest situation in Afghanistan.