Taliban’s stance ‘main obstacle’ in way of peace, says Abdullah

A day before the Moscow peace talks start, between Afghan politicians and the Taliban, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said he sees Taliban’s stance as the “main obstacle” in the way of achieving peace as, according to him, the group consistently refuses to hold face-to-face talks with the Afghan government.

Abdullah, who addressed reporters in Kabul on Monday, said there are two fronts at this juncture: the peace front which he said are the people, government and political parties who want peace; and the war front, who are groups like Taliban, al-Qaeda, Daesh and others.

“They (Taliban) are not ready for talks with the government and the people of Afghanistan and they are wasting time and have the mindset that their position will be strengthened as they see that the talks are ongoing in different places,” Abdullah said referring to recent talks in Qatar and this week’s talks in Moscow.