Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has made a blunt new push for a UN-led peace effort in Afghanistan. In a letter to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Mr Blinken called for a 90-day reduction in violence and a transitional government formed from both sides. Mr Blinken also said no decision had been made about whether to stick to a planned US troop withdrawal by 1 May.

The US special envoy to Afghanistan touched down in Kabul on Monday for meetings with Afghan leaders, in a bid to revive a flagging peace process as violence soars in the war-weary country and a deadline for US troop withdrawal draws closer.

The Taliban demanded Sunday that the United States and its foreign military allies leave Afghanistan by May 1, in line with a peace agreement the insurgent group signed with Washington a year ago, warning any attempt to change the path “is already doomed to failure.” 

The German government has agreed to extend its military mandate in Afghanistan into 2022. The extension now requires the approval of the Bundestag lower house of parliament. 

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan witnessed a sharp rise since peace negotiations started in September last year, even though overall deaths and injuries dropped in 2020, compared to the previous year, according to a UN human rights report launched Tuesday. 

NATO defence ministers at a meeting on Thursday made no decision on whether or when to pull out of Afghanistan, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the allies faced a dilemma as violence increases again.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday the alliance will not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan “before the time is right,” ahead of a discussion by defense ministers on the deployment.

Taliban insurgents have killed at least 21 government troops in new attacks in Afghanistan as U.S.-brokered peace talks between the two warring sides remain stalled. The fighting comes as the United States is reviewing a February 2020 agreement with the Taliban, which required remaining American and allied forces to leave Afghanistan by May of this year.

The United States should extend the May 1 deadline for pulling all its troops from Afghanistan, and make force cuts contingent on progress in peace talks as well as by the Taliban in reducing violence and containing al Qaeda, a bipartisan report to Congress said on Wednesday.

The statement comes a day after Pentagon said Taliban has failed to meet its side of the peace agreement signed last year.