The Afghan Taliban have said they have ended their peace talks with United States and are set to sign the peace deal “After many ups and downs, the peace talks with the US have finally been concluded in Doha. We agreed on certain major issues and could most likely sign the peace accord by the end of this month (February),” a senior Taliban leader privy to the peace talks says. He further added that they have decided to create a friendly environment in Afghanistan before signing of the peace accord and are expected to stop fighting for a few days. According to Taliban leaders, they could later extend the ceasefire or turn it into a permanent ceasefire.
But what is the Peace Deal?
The peace deal signing ceremony will take place in Doha, according to the Taliban leaders, in which they have decided to invite world leaders, including rulers of the Muslim countries, Europe, Afghanistan’s neighbours, NATO, United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and those involved in the affairs of Afghanistan. The Taliban leaders further said that after signing the deal, the first thing Washington will ensure is to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners, languishing in different jails in Afghanistan. Taliban claim, 11,000 prisoners are presently held in jails in Afghanistan. And in return, Taliban said, they would release 1,000 prisoners, majority of them whom are members of the Afghan security establishment.
What did Pakistan have to say about this?
US State Department Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday and briefed him over the peace talks with the Taliban. PM Imran welcomed the recent progress in peace talks between the United States and Taliban and expressed the hope that the agreement would be signed at the earliest to be followed by intra-Afghan dialogue for working out a settlement for sustained peace and stability in Afghanistan. The prime minister underlined that Pakistan had facilitated the Afghan peace and reconciliation process as it genuinely believed that after Afghanistan it stood to benefit the most from peace and stability in that country. And have deserved peace for a long time. Pakistan being the 2nd largest refugee host in the world with millions of afghan refugees has proved their strive for world peace. To read more from ProperGaanda: