Taliban Special Forces. Illustrative image
The U.S., Russian, Chinese, Pakistani special representatives for Afghanistan will meet in the Qatari capital, Doha, to conduct consultations on support of intra-Afghan negotiations. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the Ttaliban claims new victories.
The Moscow-initiated group known under the title of the “extended troika” will meet on August 11th to discuss the ways to help the warring parties reach a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire.
The last meeting of the extended troika took place in April 2021. In a joint statement they had warned the insurgents not to attempt to militarily seize control of the Afghan capital.
The inefficiency of the international diplomatic effort, as well as the volatility of intra-Afghan talks them-selves, are a sign of a tacit support to the Taliban’s advance.
The coming meeting should be nothing more than another stage of the negotiation process. Despite the optimistic expectations, the representatives do not expect any significant success until the beginning of autumn, according to the Russian representative Kabulov.
It can be concluded that the international community gave the Taliban a free hand, and any political effort would fail until the Taliban takes control over the whole country, leaving Kabul as the last stronghold for the government forces. This should be expected in two or three weeks. Only then will the intra-Afghan negotiations lead to any result.
Thus, the new meeting between the Doha-based Taliban and Kabul government representatives that is scheduled to follow the troika’s consultation in Qatar will probably lead to no advance in intra-Afghan talks.
Taliban inside Security Department in Aibak, the capital of Samangan pic.twitter.com/wc3jg31NsH
— C4H10FO2P (@markito0171) August 9, 2021
Meanwhile, the Taliban continues its advance in northern Afghanistan.
The city of Taloqan, the capital of Takhar province, was taken over by the Taliban late on August 8.
The last on the list of the Taliban’s victories was the city of Aibak, the capital of Samangan in northern Afghanistan that fell in early hours on August 9. The Taliban claimed that a commander and former member of parliament Mohammad Asif Nabi Jan had joined the Mujahideen along with his eight armed men.
The clashes broke out in the outskirts of the provincial capital of Balkh Province, Mazar-e Sharif, and the town of Gardez, the center of Paktia, in northern Afghanistan. They are likely to become next Taliban’s victories.
At the moment, at least 6 provincial capitals are under Taliban’s control.
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