After the top U.S. commander revealed last week that secret talks were going on with some factions of the Taliban about ending the 16-year war in Afghanistan, the Taliban issued a statement saying they “categorically reject” the assertion.
But in an interview with the BBC, Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s chief executive, confirmed that there have been contacts with some members of the Taliban, while also saying said no “specific negotiations” have taken place focused on the idea of a cease-fire.
“You can consider the current contacts as ‘pre-negotiating’ contacts, because so far Taliban have put conditions which are not acceptable,” Abdullah said. “Our position has been, ‘Let’s come and talk, and then whatever your conditions raise it at the negotiating table.’ ”
In a May 30 briefing for reporters at the Pentagon, Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, cited “significant dialogue” that’s occurring between what he called “various stakeholders.”
“You have international governments; international organizations; external nations; internal Afghan leaders, both in and out of government; all of whom are engaged in, to varying degrees, of dialogue with either those who work with the Taliban or actually some of the Taliban leaders themselves.”
The next day, a Taliban spokesman called Nicholson’s comments a “baseless claim.”
“American General Nicholson is making such fabricated statements to divert attention from his failures and keep the Washington media busy with false claims instead of exposing the failed Trump [administration’s] strategy” in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement distributed to the media, according to the AP.
Asked for a response to the Taliban statement, Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan told the Washington Examiner, “My response is that Gen. Nicholson’s comments speak for themselves.”
Nicholson portrayed the talks as a result of the pressure the military campaign is having on Taliban forces that are growing tired of fighting.
“There is tremendous potential to advance the reconciliation dialogue,” Nicholson said. “My diplomatic colleagues are the ones involved with this, and their ability to be successful depends in part on the confidentiality of the process.”
