Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s top aide the septuagenarian Sartaj Aziz said earlier yesterday that the use of force against Afghan Taliban is ‘unviable’ until all peaceful options are exhausted.
Disapproving Afghanistan’s call to battle some factions of the Taliban rather than try to bring them to the negotiating table, Aziz said, “The use of force has been unable to solve the conflict over the last 14 years.”
Instead, Aziz pressed for a political solution to the problem. “Afghanistan wants to try other options if the peace process does not start. That option [military] has been used for 14 years but has failed to produce any meaningful results,” the adviser said.
“The results cannot be achieved in a few weeks, it takes time. I do not think any option other than talks will bring peace to Afghanistan,” he added.
Aziz’s statement comes days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani pressed Islamabad to take military action against the Afghan Taliban leadership, who Kabul claims are living in Pakistan. In a sombre speech to the Afghan parliament on April 25, Ghani said Kabul does not “want Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table” but expects [military] action.
In a major shift in his policy, Ghani also demanded Pakistan hand over the Taliban leadership to Afghanistan for trial. The Afghan president’s comments came in the aftermath of a Taliban attack on a security forces office in Kabul on April 19, which killed nearly 70 people and injured about 350 others.
Aziz confirmed the Afghan Taliban delegation’s visit to Pakistan for what he called “exploratory contacts” and said all member countries of the quadrilateral group are in contact with the Taliban office in Qatar for peace talks.
The four-way process of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States was launched in December for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. “The US, China and Afghan High Peace Councils has also established contact links with the Taliban’s Qatar office and use their channels to begin the process” Aziz went on to say.
Responding a question, Aziz said the QCG will assess prospects for the talks but will also review other options if talks do not take place.
The Taliban had refused to take part in direct talks with the Afghan government under the Quadrilateral Coordination Group in March. However, Aziz said efforts are underway to push for talks.
When asked about the threats made by Afghan leaders in recent days, Aziz disagreed with the notion and said Afghanistan was disappointed because they expected the peace talks to have formally started in March.
“But the Taliban launched their Spring Offensive. Their operation has not achieved anything; the situation on the ground is unchanged and there is stability in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that he is hopeful the peace process would begin if the situation remains the same.
The Taliban’s annual Spring Offensive, this year named after their leader Mullah Omar, has led to a surge in violence which further diminished the chances of peace negotiations.
Some political observers in Afghanistan had earlier opined that the Taliban are likely to come to the negotiating table after the fighting season, codenamed “Operation Omari”, is over in which they hope to expand control over more areas. However, their efforts have proven futile thus far.
