Afghan Government Yet To Form Negotiating Team After Dissolving High Peace Council

Afghan Government Yet to Form Negotiating Team After Dissolving High Peace Council

The Afghan government and US negotiators have been engaged in days of talks to form a governmental negotiating team for peace talks with the Taliban after dissolving the High Peace Council and in the wake of the presidential election that is set to be held within two months

KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th July, 2019) The Afghan government and US negotiators have been engaged in days of talks to form a governmental negotiating team for peace talks with the Taliban after dissolving the High Peace Council and in the wake of the presidential election that is set to be held within two months.

Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree dissolving the country's High Peace Council, established back in 2010 by former leader Hamid Karzai as a special group to hold talks with the Taliban movement. The authorities of the council have been transferred to the newly established State Ministry of Peace Affairs.

US Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has stayed in Afghanistan for talks with the country's leaders to form a negotiating team that will represent Kabul in the talks.

"President Ghani has met with US envoy Khalilzad several times during the last week. We are working on a roadmap for peace, we hope we will achieve conclusion soon, and enter the new stage, which is intra-Afghan negotiations," Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan president, told at a press conference on Saturday.

Sediqqi added that the Ministry of Peace Affairs will take over all the responsibilities of the dissolved High Peace Council.

"The government's Ministry for Peace was established based on the Loya Jirga decision, the High Peace Council has been dissolved and the new ministry will take over the entire affairs of the council," Sediqqi pointed out.

The presidential election in Afghanistan is scheduled for September 28, with candidates set to launch their campaigns next week. However, it seems to be challenging for the Afghan government to hold country-wide and secure election, as the security situation in Afghanistan is fragile, and insurgency groups nearly control or contest almost half of the country. The Afghan parliamentary election in 2018 faced major violence across the country as dozens of people were killed or wounded in bombings and rocket attacks.

"Regarding security, the Afghan forces are ready to maintain security of elections, we assure the people," Nasrat Rahimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said during the conference.

Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban movement and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia). The national security forces, supported by the international coalition, are involved in counterterrorism operations across the country. Meanwhile, Kabul and the Taliban are trying to launch reconciliation talks.