{"id":63838,"date":"2019-06-30T17:44:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-30T17:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/30\/afghan-taliban-say-latest-peace-talks-with-us-are-critical\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:26:07","slug":"afghan-taliban-say-latest-peace-talks-with-us-are-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/06\/30\/afghan-taliban-say-latest-peace-talks-with-us-are-critical\/","title":{"rendered":"Afghan Taliban say latest peace talks with US are \u2018critical\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISLAMABAD \u2014 The Taliban said Sunday that the latest round of peace talks with the United States is \u201ccritical\u201d as the two sides \u201crewrite\u201d a draft agreement in which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/02\/01\/in-afghanistan-is-this-a-peace-deal-or-terms-of-surrender\/\" target=_blank>American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan <\/a>in exchange for guarantees from the insurgents that they would fight terrorism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are working to rewrite the draft agreement and incorporate in it clauses that have been agreed upon,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/01\/30\/taliban-say-they-are-not-looking-to-rule-afghanistan-alone\/\" target=\"_blank\">Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen <\/a>told The Associated Press on the second day of talks with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar, where the militant group maintains a political office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He cautioned that while the work was continuing, it is \u201cnot finished yet.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/05\/taliban-say-gap-narrowing-in-talks-with-us-over-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"218\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19124301094638.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Taliban say gap narrowing in talks with US over Afghanistan troop withdrawal<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Taliban on Saturday said the gap is narrowing in talks with Washington\u2019s special peace envoy over a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The two sides are continuing to meet in Qatar, where the insurgent movement maintains a political office.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two sides are trying to hammer out agreements that would see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2019\/03\/13\/longest-us-taliban-peace-talks-see-progress-but-agreement-on-withdrawal-timeline-remains-elusive\/\" target=_blank>the eventual withdrawal of over 20,000 U.S. and NATO troops <\/a>from Afghanistan and the end of America\u2019s longest-running war. The agreements are expected to include guarantees that Afghanistan will not harbor groups like al-Qaida, which was based there in the lead-up to the Sept. 11 attacks, and that the Taliban will continue fighting the Islamic State group, which has expanded its footprint in recent years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The latest round of talks began on Saturday and is expected to continue into the next week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19181327646251.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader, second from left, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for talks in Moscow.\" class=\"wp-image-75512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19181327646251.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19181327646251.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19181327646251.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19181327646251.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this file photo taken on May 28, 2019, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group&#8217;s top political leader, second from left, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for talks in Moscow. (Alexander Zemlianichenko\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two sides sat down to negotiate just days after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was hopeful of reaching a deal by Sept. 1 to end Afghanistan\u2019s protracted war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGetting a comprehensive peace agreement with the Taliban before Sept. 1 would be nothing short of a miracle,\u201d said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat said, I could certainly envision a more limited deal being in place by Sept. 1 on a U.S. troop withdrawal, given that there\u2019s already been ample progress on this issue.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pompeo and Khalilzad have both said the final accord will include not only agreements with the Taliban on troop withdrawal and guarantees of a non-threatening Afghanistan, but also agreement on intra-Afghan dialogue and a permanent cease-fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/01\/30\/us-reports-agreements-in-principle-with-taliban\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/C-AP-peace.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US reports \u2018agreements in principle\u2019 with Taliban<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan said the peace deal must be fleshed out, but the Taliban will guarantee that Afghan territory is not used as a platform for international terrorist groups.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until now the Taliban have refused direct talks with the Afghan government while holding two separate meetings with a wide array of prominent Afghans, including former president Hamid Karzai, members of the former northern alliance that fought the Taliban during its five-year rule and individual members of the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Taliban view President Ashraf Ghani\u2019s government as an American puppet but have said they will meet with members of his administration as individuals. The insurgents, who effectively control half the country, have refused a cease-fire until the U.S. withdrawal is complete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The accelerated pace of negotiations and the sudden announcement of a Sept. 1 target date for an agreement could be linked to Ghani\u2019s insistence on presidential polls scheduled for Sept. 28, analysts said. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/05\/17\/not-duffel-blog-pentagon-wants-to-reimburse-taliban-for-travel-to-peace-talks-says-report\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/US_Afghanistan_90766-780x520.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Not Duffel Blog: Pentagon wants to reimburse Taliban for travel to peace talks, says report<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Pentagon requested funding to cover the Taliban&#039;s costs for travel expenses to attend peace talks, according to a report. A defense spending bill approved by a House panel on Wednesday barred funds to reimburse the terrorist organization.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His political opponents have objected to the election schedule, pointing to last October\u2019s poorly run parliamentary polls. The voting was so badly mismanaged that Ghani fired the entire Independent Election Commission. Several parliamentary seats are still being contested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A biometric identification system aimed at reducing election fraud was prematurely rolled out for the polls, with the few people trained on the machines not showing up on election day. While there were incidents of violence, analysts widely agreed the greatest flaw was the widespread mismanagement and fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Khalilzad has suggested that presidential elections could hinder peace efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI do think the U.S. government recognizes that the election could pose a major obstacle to peace talks, given that it will be a distraction and given that it will accentuate and intensify the fractures and rivalries in the Afghan political environment that undercut reconciliation prospects,\u201d said Kugelman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnother reason for the focus on Sept. 1 is much simpler: President Trump wants out, and he wants a deal as soon as possible,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Taliban said Sunday that the latest round of peace talks with the United States is \u201ccritical\u201d as the two sides \u201crewrite\u201d a draft agreement in which American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the insurgents that they would fight terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,8,23,93,12,25,68],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2154],"class_list":["post-63838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3M6KKDO6PRGZNMA6VPJPFOGHBU","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/06\/30\/afghan-taliban-say-latest-peace-talks-with-us-are-critical\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Afghan Taliban say latest peace talks with US are \u2018critical\u2019 - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Taliban said Sunday that the latest round of peace talks with the United States is \u201ccritical\u201d as the two sides \u201crewrite\u201d a draft agreement in which American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the insurgents that they would fight terrorism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Afghan Taliban say latest peace talks with US are \u2018critical\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Taliban said Sunday that the latest round of peace talks with the United States is \u201ccritical\u201d as the two sides \u201crewrite\u201d a draft agreement in which American forces would withdraw from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the insurgents that they would fight terrorism.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/06\/30\/afghan-taliban-say-latest-peace-talks-with-us-are-critical\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-30T17:44:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T11:26:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press\" 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