• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Saturday, May 28, 2022
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World Middle East

Afghan Peace Process Risks Collapse as Violence Flares

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
05/01/20
in Middle East
Afghan flag behind barbed wire.

Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Two months after the U.S. and the Taliban signed a deal Washington heralded as the way to end Afghanistan’s war, violence is spiraling out of control and experts say a fragile peace process risks collapse.

Dozens of Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters have been dying almost daily with civilian casualties rising across the country as both sides ramp up operations.

The insurgents have been emboldened by a deal that gave them many concessions in exchange for few commitments, fuelling their surge of attacks in recent weeks, analysts say.

The timing could hardly be worse, as Afghanistan also grapples with a coronavirus epidemic.

The peace “process isn’t dead yet, but it is on life support,” said Ashley Jackson, a researcher at the Overseas Development Institute. “It’s anyone’s guess how much time we have before it does begin to irrevocably fall apart.”

An Afghan official said that on average, the Taliban have launched 55 attacks each day since the deal signing in Doha on February 29, while a U.N. agency reported that Afghan forces are causing more child deaths than the insurgents — mainly from airstrikes and shelling.

Analysts say the bloodshed was predictable — or inevitable — given the wording of the deal and the sweeping concessions the U.S. granted its foe of more than 18 years.

Titled the “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan,” the accord promises a full withdrawal of U.S. and foreign forces without the Taliban committing to a ceasefire or even any reduction in violence.

In this file photo taken on July 24, 2011 Afghan and US flags are raised as a policeman keeps watch during a ceremony to hand over security control in the rugged mountains of the Panjshir valley.
The US-Taliban accord promises a full withdrawal of US and foreign forces. Photo: AFP

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants American troops home quickly, and the Taliban realize that as long as they don’t hit American or foreign troops, there are few consequences for continued attacks.

The insurgents see the agreement as “an end-of-occupation deal,” said Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. “The U.S. wants out of Afghanistan and it has ceded to all the Taliban demands.”

Nishank Motwani, a Kabul-based strategy and security expert, said the Doha agreement had emboldened and legitimized the Taliban, who think they have won the war so have little incentive to stop fighting. “The Taliban fundamentally believe that victory is theirs,” Motwani said.

Withdrawal Timeline

The deal means that in return for vague Taliban security commitments and a loose pledge they won’t let Al-Qaeda and other jihadists threaten the U.S. or its allies, the American military and all foreign forces will quit Afghanistan by July 2021 — a process already underway.

Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said Trump is determined to leave Afghanistan “come hell or high water,” so the Taliban face few consequences for continued violence.

“This isn’t a deal to win peace, this is simply a deal to give the Americans cover (to leave Afghanistan),” Rubin told AFP. “And if it means throwing the Afghans under the bus, so be it.”

The agreement also detailed several commitments from President Ashraf Ghani — including a very lopsided prisoner swap — even though U.S. and Taliban negotiators systematically sidelined his government.

The prisoner exchange would see Ghani release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including many hardened fighters likely to return to the battlefield. In exchange, the Taliban would release 1,000 Afghan security forces.

The swap was supposed to be concluded by March 10, paving the way for peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

A Taliban source said the insurgents had no intention of slowing violence until the prisoners are released, and reiterated there will be no talks unless that happened.

“Ghani’s government is trying to test our nerves but we want to tell them that we are not tired, we are still fresh and ready to fight,” the Taliban member told AFP.

The insurgents have also rejected as “illogical” recent ceasefire calls from Kabul and the West, pointing to the fact the deal did not mandate one.

Fawzia Koofi, a member of the Afghan team selected for eventual negotiations, said another hurdle is the political crisis that has seen Ghani’s legitimacy challenged by his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who also claimed the presidency after an election marred by fraud allegations.

“We are waiting for the political dispute to come to a possible consensus and end inside Afghanistan so that… we have a united position during the talks,” she said.

Ghani’s administration has at least held some discussions with the Taliban on the prisoner issue and that gave grounds for hope, International Crisis Group analyst Andrew Watkins said.

“The most important thing for peace talks to succeed is for both sides to keep talking, constantly, even while fighting wages.”

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

A man holding a gun
Featured

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

by Stephen J. Lyons
May 2, 2022
US Capitol riot
National

Trump ‘More Likely Than Not’ Obstructed Congress: US Judge

by Staff Writer
March 28, 2022
Dollar bills held against a world map
Opinion

The Global Tax Won’t Fix Historically High Inequality, It Will Make It Worse

by Benjamin Waddell
February 21, 2022
Afghanistan
Middle East

Taliban Vows in Geneva Talks to Protect Aid Workers: NGO

by Staff Writer
February 11, 2022
People in the March For Our Lives rally against gun violence
Opinion

Walking Through a Tunnel of Sorrow

by Stephen J. Lyons
January 31, 2022
Afghan women
Middle East

Afghan Women Activists Say They Feel Betrayed by Oslo Talks

by Staff Writer
January 24, 2022
Next Post
A medic transports a patient to a hospital outside Moscow on April 27, 2020 where patients infected with coronavirus are being treated

Russia Sees Record Rise as Virus Cases Surge Past 100,000

US President Donald Trump

Trump Says Evidence Ties China Lab to Virus, Threatens Tariffs

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

The Onion

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens’

May 25, 2022
police line

Teen Gunman Kills 15 at Texas Elementary School

May 24, 2022
refugees

More Than 100 Million People Forcibly Displaced, UN Says

May 23, 2022
Volkswagen logo

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

May 20, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Russia Says Economy Grew 3.5 Percent in First Quarter

May 18, 2022
Mexico missing people

Over 100,000 People Reported Missing in Mexico, Data Reveals

May 17, 2022

Opinion

A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

May 18, 2022
A man holding a gun

Safely Back in USA, Land of Guns and Burgers

May 2, 2022
China Muslim Uyghurs

Unfair Politicization, Corruption, and the Death of Modern Olympism

April 23, 2022
Ukraine war

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

April 20, 2022
Chinese leader Xi Jinping

How Wrong ‘How China Can End the War in Ukraine’ Is

April 1, 2022
Ukraine children

The War for Ukraine’s Lives and Minds

March 30, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post