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| Afghan Special Forces (File Photo) |
By Sanjay Kumar
Afghanistan’s precarious rapprochement with Pakistan is not paying dividends.
Peace always hangs on a slim thread in Afghanistan. The daring attack on the Afghan parliament earlier this week further shreds that thread and raises questions over the future of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
Just over a week ago, Taliban representatives engaged members of the Afghan government and civil society in a dialogue in Norway. In the last few months, several informal engagements have taken place between the Taliban and the government’s interlocutors.
However, these months of peace talks have been accompanied by a rise in the aggression of the Taliban. Today, the situation in some provinces, like Helmand and Kunduz, has reached a tipping point.
The attack on the Afghan parliament on Monday is an extension of the Taliban’s so-called ‘spring offensive’ and a serious challenge to the authority of the unity government in Kabul. The offensive puts the Afghan regime in a serious quandary over whether it should continue talks with the Taliban.
Read the full story at The Diplomat