KABUL: Afghan politician met with the Taliban rebels representatives in Qatar on Saturday with each side calling for peace even as an increasing battle and fell thousands of people.
Two decades of conflicts have changed worse because of the internationally led international forces and the Taliban launched attacks around Afghanistan, taking border districts and crossings while circling the provincial capital.
Negotiations have met in Doha since September but failed to make substantive progress with time running out before foreign troops entirely out on September 11.
“Come on …
Take important steps to continue the peace process, to prevent the murder of the people.” Abdullah Abdullah, Head of the Government High Council for National Reconciliation, said at the beginning of the new high-level talks were intended to last two days.
“Because we can’t pay the price for this blood and we cannot avoid responsibility for it,” Abdullah said.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Leader and Taliban Negotiator, regretted the lack of progress.
“But there is still hope and the Taliban will make efforts for talks of positive results,” he said.
In the impact of the latest battles, around 12,000 families in North Takhar Province had to escape their homes because the battle continued, said local officials.
Many gather in a school in the provincial capital with several inventory.
“We are not assisted or even given carpets.
Even a dog can even stay here,” Mohammad Amin, one of those who had fled, told Reuters.
In South Kandahar Province, heavy battles have occurred and the Taliban earlier this week seized Spin Boldak, an area on the border with Pakistan, although the Afghan government said on Friday it had regained control of the border intersection.
Reuters journalist Denmark Siddiqui was killed on Friday while covering the clashes between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in the area.
Officials on the Pakistani side of the border said the intersection had been opened on Saturday, which allowed hundreds of Afghans stranded in Pakistan during the battle to return.
More than 2,000 people were transferred in Kandahar this month, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Agent, and the Governor of Kandahar Province on Friday night declared the curfew in the city of Kandahar at night due to battle.
The UN refugee agency estimates that 270,000 Afghans have been transferred into the country since January, bringing the number of people forced from their homes to more than 3.5 million.