The latest report by the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA), signaling a high level of violence in the country, has raised further concerns about how peace talks and violence can continue at the same time, analysts told Sputnik
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) The latest report by the UN Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMA), signaling a high level of violence in the country, has raised further concerns about how peace talks and violence can continue at the same time, analysts told Sputnik.
Last week, UNAMA released its annual report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Though overall numbers for 2020 were lower compared to those of the previous year, there was a surge in civilians killed and injured in the Central Asian country following the launch of the intra-Afghan peace talks in September.
Atiqullah Amarkhel, a former army general, believes that the Taliban movement was responsible for the current escalation of violence, as the insurgent group sought to put pressure on the Afghan government. According to the expert, the movement thought that with the signing of an agreement with the US, it would be easier to defeat the Afghan army in the absence of foreign troops in the country and bring down the Afghan government.
"The Taliban thought that they had taken away the US authority in the Doha agreement and that aid would be cut off, but on the contrary, the Taliban, which increased the pressure of the war, came under foreign pressure," Amarkhel told Sputnik.
PEACE TALKS NOT SOLUTION FOR TALIBAN
Commenting on the ongoing intra-Afghan talks in Doha, Political analyst Najeeb Nangyal, a former senior official at the Afghan interior ministry, told Sputnik that the Taliban did not see the peace process as a solution to the longstanding conflict.
At the same time, the Taliban believes that the launch of the Doha talks was the victory of the 20-year war that the international community was trying to bring to the table, the expert said, adding that escalating the violence is a way for the insurgent group to put pressure on the government and thus defeat it.
"The Taliban think that under the Doha agreement, US troops will leave in May, and after that, the Afghan government will fall to the Taliban. It is a misconception that the Taliban will not attend the peace talks," Nangyal said.
The expert also believes that the Taliban have escalated violence to bring down the Afghan government, but the Doha agreement makes it clear that the solution must be political.
PEACE TALKS FAIL TO END VIOLENCE
According to Majid Sulemankhel, a local activist, the country's population is desperate, as no side takes responsibility for ongoing clashes and attacks.
"Afghans are tired of war, they have the right to live in peace, but we are desperate. In the past, when there was a war, one side would have known to take responsibility. Now everything is happening, nobody takes the responsibility," Sulemankhel said.
While the Afghan government blames the Taliban for the escalation since the launch of the peace talks, the latter has only claimed responsibility for the confrontation or face-to-face war and not for more bombings and targeted killings.
