At least 24 Afghan security forces were killed early on March 20 in an insider attack on their base in southern Zabul Province, officials say.
The United States said the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban should begin prisoner releases “as soon as possible,” adding that the global coronavirus pandemic is adding to the urgency.
Afghan authorities say they have delayed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, throwing a precarious peace process into deeper crisis.
The United States is not ready to abandon its agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but the general in charge of U.S. forces in the region says there are signs the deal ultimately may be doomed.
Marvin Weinbaum counts disagreements between Afghan elites, the Taliban’s unwillingness to follow through on vague counterterrorism and power-sharing promises, and the possibility of Washington walking away from its longest war as several of the major obstacles to lasting peace in Afghanistan.
The Afghan government has offered to release 1,500 Taliban prisoners, saying it is "impossible" to release more, as demanded by the Taliban to start peace talks envisaged under a deal with the United States.
The United States has warned the Taliban on March 10 that the current level of violence by the militants “is unacceptable” to advancing the peace process as the UN Security Council supported a U.S.-led effort to end Afghanistan’s nearly two-decade old war.
The Taliban says talks scheduled this week with Afghanistan’s government are unlikely to take place on time because of plans by two rivals for the Afghan presidency to conduct parallel swearing-in ceremonies.
Days after the United States signed a historic initial peace deal with the Taliban, an old rivalry between neighbors Afghanistan and Pakistan is rearing its head.
U.S. defense chiefs have told lawmakers that the initial results from the Taliban peace deal have been mixed, but they insisted that the extremist group is adhering to much of the agreement despite a flare-up of deadly violence in Afghanistan.
Author Hussain Haqqani, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States, believes the recent deal between the U.S. and the Taliban provides a real opportunity for peace in the region.
A U.S.-Taliban deal aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan is threatening to unravel over two key issues: a major prisoner exchange and a reduction of violence.
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