Time for peace in Afghanistan?

When the Afghan government and the Taliban agreed to a three-day ceasefire over Eidul Fitr last month, it was hailed as a sign that the two sides may be close to holding peace talks that would finally bring an end to the war in the country. While that ceasefire was by and large considered a significant breakthrough on all sides, since then the Afghan Taliban have become more brazen than ever – culminating in their push to take over the city of Ghazni last week. This is why Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s new offer of a month-long ceasefire starting from Eidul Azha today has not been accompanied with the same optimism. Till the time of writing this editorial, the Afghan Taliban are yet to accept the offer and are continuing to carry out attacks around the country. Even as Ghani was delivering his Eid speech, the Taliban fired rockets at the presidential palace. They also ambushed a convoy of three buses in Kunduz province, taking nearly 200 people hostage. The militant group says it is still considering the ceasefire offer but should this violence continue much longer the government may have little choice but to withdraw the offer. The one bit of support for Ghani came from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who released a statement welcoming the Afghan government’s offer and reiterated US support for negotiations.

When US President Donald Trump assumed the presidency, his first instinct was so send more troops to Afghanistan, but his administration has quickly realised that this will not work. In recent months, the US has shown a greater willingness to directly be part of any negotiations with the Taliban. The Americans seem to have realised that they cannot militarily win the war in Afghanistan and that Afghan forces are not capable of defeating the Taliban. There are now reports circulating in the US that Trump wants a complete withdrawal of US forces from the country although he wants them to be replaced by private contractors. Rather than privatising the war, the US should withdraw its troops and join negotiations with the Afghan government and the Taliban. Only a comprehensive peace agreement has any chance of bringing the war to an end. This past Sunday, Afghanistan marked its 99th independence day. For more than a third of its existence as an independent country, it has been mired in civil war. The only way to end that is through negotiations and not by ramping up an unwinnable war.