Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council says an immediate cease-fire is a top priority for the Afghan government negotiators in the second round of the intra-Afghan talks in Doha.

Peace talks in Afghanistan have only inched forward even as the pace of conflict has picked up. As the Afghan government and Taliban await clearer policy signals from the incoming U.S. administration, their primary goal should be to keep the vital negotiations going.

The U.S. military has not halted a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Department of Defense told Reuters on Monday, despite a new law prohibiting further reductions without the Pentagon sending Congress an assessment of the risks.

A team of Afghans arrived Tuesday afternoon in the capital of Qatar to resume peace talks with the Taliban after a three-week break amid rising calls for a reduction in violence.

Negotiators are back in Doha for a second round of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Afghan officials say at least 13 police officers have been killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in the northern province of Baghlan. … The attacks came as the United Nations warned that 5 million more Afghans will be in need of help next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in conflicts.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan said Friday that it had carried out an overnight airstrike against Taliban insurgents in defense of government security forces. … For their part, the Taliban condemned the raid as a violation of the pact with the U.S., saying it destroyed “multiple civilian homes” and killed up to 10 people.

Negotiation teams from the Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to refer differences in interpretation of Sharia law to a joint committee, protect the confidentiality of ongoing peace talks, and carry out the process with “truthfulness, sincerity, and determination,” according to a code of conduct agreed upon by both sides last week.

Afghan government and Taliban representatives said they have reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war. The agreement on Wednesday lays out the way forward for further discussion but is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues, including talks on a ceasefire.

International donors pledged financial and political support for Afghanistan’s peace process at the 2020 Afghanistan Conference in Geneva on Tuesday, anticipating a sustainable ceasefire that will help the country rebuild and heal after decades of conflict.