Senior Afghan leaders to travel to Doha for talks with Taliban

KABUL / ANKARA, July 13 (Reuters) – Senior Afghan leaders will travel to Doha this week for talks with the Taliban, as the insurgent group takes a firm stance on the negotiations, even warning Turkey against plans to keep some troops in Afghanistan to run and guard Kabul’s main airport.

The eight-member delegation will include senior Afghan peace official Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai, and is expected to discuss a range of topics, including speeding up peace talks, a government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Taliban did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the talks, which are distinct from the stalled intra-Afghan negotiations taking place between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators in the Qatari capital of Doha.

News of the delegation’s visit came hours after the Taliban warned of the “consequences” of plans to keep Turkish troops in Afghanistan to guard Kabul airport after foreign forces withdrew.

It was not immediately clear whether the Kabul airport issue would be discussed between the Taliban and the senior Afghan delegation, which is expected to travel to Doha on Friday.

THE AIRPORT PLAN

Ankara, which offered to manage and keep the capital’s airport after NATO pulls out, is in talks with the United States over financial, political and logistical support. Read more

Turkey reiterated that the airport must remain open to preserve diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, where an explosion rocked Kabul on Tuesday and clashes escalated across the country. Read more

“If Turkish officials do not review their decision and continue the occupation of our country, the Islamic Emirate (…) will take a stand against them,” the Taliban said in a statement, referring to Turkey’s plan.

The Taliban, which ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist from 1996 to 2001, have fought for 20 years to overthrow the Western-backed government in Kabul.

Emboldened by the departure of foreign forces by a September objective, they made a new push to surround the towns and gain territory.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday evening that Turkey had agreed to certain points with its US counterparts on the management of the airport and that the search for an agreement was continuing. .

“The airport must remain open, be operated. All countries are saying so. If the airport is not functioning, countries will have to withdraw their diplomatic missions there,” he said.

Talks now involving the ministries are expected to be completed by the time US forces leave, a senior Turkish official told Reuters. “We still believe that there will be an agreement on the airport. We want to side with the Afghan people,” the official said.

RISE OF VIOLENCE

The high-ranking Afghan delegation is expected to hold talks with the Taliban about a ceasefire as violence increases in Afghanistan.

Police said an explosion rocked a busy area of ​​Kabul on Tuesday, killing four and injuring five. It was not clear who was behind the explosion or the target.

Clashes continued in southern Kandahar province, provincial council member Attaullah Atta said, as the Taliban were pushed back after an attempt to break into a prison in the city.

Hundreds of families have fled the violence, he added.

Mohammad Daoud Farhad, director of Kandahar Provincial Hospital, said he had received eight dead and more than 30 people, mostly civilians, injured in clashes in the past 24 hours.

Early Tuesday, Afghan security forces withdrew from Alingar district in eastern Laghman province, a local government official said on condition of anonymity.

A ceasefire pact with the district’s Taliban failed in May.

Report from the Afghanistan office and Orhan Coskun and Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Daren Butler and Nick Macfie

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.