Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah along with State Minister in Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi is due to leave Kabul for Doha on Monday evening….reports Asian Lite News
As the Taliban is gaining ground in Afghanistan amid intense fighting with the security forces, Qatar is hosting two meetings this week in an effort to end the bloody clashes in the war-torn country.
According to a Khaama News report, a meeting between representatives of Afghanistan, Russia, the US, and the UN will take place in Doha.
Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah along with State Minister in Peace Affairs Sayed Saadat Mansoor Naderi is due to leave Kabul for Doha on Monday evening.
On Wednesday, the second meeting will be attended by US special representative to Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad and diplomats from Pakistan, Russia, and China, the Khaama News report said.
The report added that consultations were on between members of Taliban’s political office based in Doha and the negotiating team of the Afghan government.
Wednesday’s meeting “is aimed at making both parties in Afghanistan resume meaningful intra-Afghan peace negotiations”, Khaama News said.
The two meetings will follow the lead of the UNSC’s special session on Afghanistan and will seek a political settlement in the war-ravaged country.
Meanwhile, the top defence officials of the United States and Pakistan during a phone conversation discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan as well as regional security, Pentagon said in a statement on Monday.
This phone call comes amid a meeting of the extended troika of Russia, China and the United States along with Pakistan on an Afghan settlement.
“Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss our mutual goals of security and stability in the region,” Department of Defence Press Secretary John Kirby said.
“Secretary Austin and General Bajwa discussed the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, regional security and stability, and the bilateral defence relationship more broadly,” the statement added.
Several rights groups have reported grave human rights violations and war crimes in the territory held by the Taliban. At least 27 children have been killed and 136 injured over the past 72 hours as violence escalated in Afghanistan, the UNICEF said on Monday.
The UN agency said it is “shocked by the rapid escalation of rights violations against children” in Afghanistan.
Austin and Bajwa had last discussed the US drawdown from Afghanistan in April. (ANI)
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