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Experts: Government-Taliban should adopt flexibility to start Intra-Afghan talks
Experts are urging the Afghan government and the Taliban to step up their efforts to secure the release of prisoners in order to achieve a common goal so that the Intra-Afghan talks can begin as soon as possible.
After the government announced the release of 3,000 Taliban prisoners and the Taliban’s insistence on not initiating the Intra-Afghan talks until the release of 5,000 prisoners, experts are calling for flexibility and release of prisoners to a level that is acceptable to both sides.
It is also believed that the Taliban’s official stance – the release of 5,000 prisoners to start the Intra-Afghan Talks – will not change.
“The Taliban’s position is that under the Qatar agreement, 5,000 Taliban prisoners should be released so that they can enter into talks with the Afghan government,” said Khalil Safi, head of the Afghan Peace Center.
Meanwhile, a US senator says the United States, NATO, and the Afghan government should put pressure on the Taliban to subdue them.
Adam Kinzinger, a member of the US Congress, said that the only way that can work is for the Taliban to realize that they have no choice, and the United States, along with NATO and the Afghan government should pressurize them to comply.
It is worth noting that the Taliban has been underscoring that they will not negotiate unless all 5,000 prisoners are released by the government.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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