Doha agreement substitute to face failure: Taliban

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Taliban on the first anniversary of the Doha peace agreement said the accord was a practical way to establish peace and stability in Afghanistan and any substitute would face a failure.

Last year on February 29, the US and Taliban signed a historic peace agreement in Doha after 18 months of negotiations.

Under the accord, the US should withraw troops within 14 months of the agreement and release Taliban prisoners,

In return the Taliban would reduce violence in Afghanistan, enter intra-Afghan peace negotiations and cut ties with Al-Qaeda and other international terror organizations.

In accordance with the peace agreement, Afghan government released 5,000 Taliban prisoners and in exchange the Taliban released one thousand government captives, US reduced its military presence in Afghanistan to 2,500 from 12,000 and intra-Afghan peace negotiations started but Taliban have not yet reduced violence in the country.

The Taliban released a statement on the first anniversary of the peace agreement and considered the agreement as historic and congratulated its supporters on the occasion.

The Taliban said the release of prisoners and beginning of intra-Afghan peace talks were a positive progress for resolution of the Afghan conflict and for the well-being of Afghan people.

The Taliban said some promises under the Doha agreement had been fulfilled but the intra-Afghan peace parleys were delayed for six months by the other side.

The Taliban said they considered Doha agreement as a practical way of establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan and would only be factual under Islamic system.

The statement said release of the remaining Taliban detainees and removal of the blacklist were part of the agreement but it had not yet been implemented.

Practical steps must be taken to expedite the intra-Afghan peace negotiations. “By implementing the agreement the situation must improve and we must avoid the situation going in wrong direction.

The statement said Doha agreement paved practical grounds for establishment of peace and stability in Afghanistan and any substitute for the Doha peace agreement would face a failure.

The Taliban claimed they had reduced their operations according to the agreement and did not raid intelligence and military bases. They reduced suicide attacks and did not plan capturing districts.

But the Afghan government says the Taliban launched vast raids in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and other provinces to collapse districts and provinces.

However, the Taliban claim that government forces have been launching airstrikes and raids on their positions against the agreement.

The statement said despite some shortcomings, the agreement was moving in a positive direction, with good results for all parties involved.

Hr/ma

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