Afghan politicians, Taliban meet in Doha, fighting continues Reuters

Kabul (Reuters)-Afghan politicians met with representatives of Taliban insurgents in Qatar on Saturday. Both sides called for peace, even if fighting escalated and caused thousands of people to be displaced.

With the withdrawal of international forces headed by the United States, the Taliban launched an offensive around Afghanistan, occupying areas and border crossings, while encircling provincial capitals, and the two decades of conflict have become worse.

Negotiations have been held in Doha since September, but since there is not much time left before the full withdrawal of foreign troops on September 11, the negotiations have failed to make substantial progress.

At the beginning of the two-year new high-level talks, Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the Government’s High Commission for National Reconciliation, said: “Let us… take important steps to continue the peace process and prevent the killing of people.

“Because we cannot pay the price of blood for this, we cannot escape responsibility for it,” Abdullah said.

Taliban deputy leader and negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar expressed regret for the lack of progress. “But there should be hope. The Taliban will work hard to get a positive outcome in the negotiations,” he said.

Local officials said that in the latest impact of the fighting, about 12,000 families in northern Tahar Province had to flee their homes as the fighting continued.

Many people gathered in a school in the provincial capital, and the supplies were scarce. “We didn’t get help, or even the carpet. Not even a dog can live here,” Mohamed Amin, one of the fugitives, told Reuters.

Fierce fighting took place in southern Kandahar province, and earlier this week the Taliban occupied the Spinboldak area on the border with Pakistan, although the Afghan government said on Friday that it had regained control of the border crossing.

Reuters reporter Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday while reporting on clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the area.

Officials on the Pakistani side of the border said the crossing was opened on Saturday, allowing hundreds of Afghans stranded in Pakistan during the fighting to return.

According to the UN humanitarian agency, more than 2,000 people have been displaced in Kandahar this month. The governor of Kandahar Province announced on Friday night that due to fighting, the city of Kandahar has imposed a night curfew.

The UN refugee agency estimates that since January, 270,000 Afghans have been internally displaced in the country, forcing more than 3.5 million people to leave their homes.