{"id":66016,"date":"2020-06-09T02:19:14","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T02:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/09\/taliban-say-they-are-readying-for-talks-with-kabul-leaders\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:05:10","slug":"taliban-say-they-are-readying-for-talks-with-kabul-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2020\/06\/09\/taliban-say-they-are-readying-for-talks-with-kabul-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban say they are readying for talks with Kabul leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISLAMABAD \u2014 The Taliban have started putting together their agenda for negotiations with the political leadership in Kabul, Taliban officials said, a significant first step toward talks seen as perhaps the most critical next phase in the Afghan peace process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No date has yet been set for negotiations but Washington\u2019s peace envoy is currently crisscrossing the region in efforts advance the U.S.-Taliban accord signed earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zalmay Khalilzad, the architect of Washington\u2019s deal with the Taliban, was in Pakistan over the weekend, meeting with the political and military leadership, according to a U.S. Embassy statement on Monday. <\/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\/your-military\/2020\/05\/21\/us-envoy-working-to-resuscitate-flagging-afghan-peace-deal-as-us-warplanes-pound-isis-k\/\" 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=\"170\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20142334863821.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 envoy working to resuscitate flagging Afghan peace deal as US warplanes pound ISIS-K<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The first visit to Kabul by Washington\u2019s peace envoy since Afghanistan&#039;s squabbling political leadership reached a power-sharing agreement comes amid increased violence blamed mostly on an Islamic State affiliate that has been targeted in stepped-up U.S. bombing.<\/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 Taliban leadership council, meanwhile, began taking proposals from its members in preparation for the start of negotiations, Taliban officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They cited Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhunzada, who expressed the insurgent group\u2019s readiness to participate in the talks with Kabul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sticking point ahead of the talks was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/28\/taliban-in-kabul-to-discuss-prisoner-releases-under-us-peace-deal\/\" target=_blank>the exchange of prisoners<\/a> between the warring sides. After stalling for weeks, the prisoner swaps unfolded and by Monday, the government had released 2,710 Taliban prisoners, according to Javid Faisal, spokesman for the national security adviser\u2019s office in Kabul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen says the insurgents have so far freed 531 Afghan military and civilian government personnel they held captive. Shaheen, however, tweeted that the government freed so far only 2,284 Taliban prisoners. The discrepancy could not be immediately explained, but the Taliban have been counting only those prisoners they had listed as part of the U.S.-Taliban deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This deal calls for the Kabul government to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/26\/afghan-government-releases-hundreds-of-taliban-prisoners-as-part-of-peace-deal-with-us\/\" target=_blank>release 5,000 Taliban prisoners<\/a> and the Taliban to free 1,000 government and military personnel ahead of the negotiations \u2014 an exchange billed as a goodwill gesture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The accord, signed Feb. 29, was seen as Afghanistan\u2019s best chance for peace and an opportunity for U.S. and NATO troops to leave the war-torn country after nearly two decades of fighting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/15\/us-on-track-to-pull-troops-from-afghanistan-despite-turmoil\/\" target=_blank>withdrawal of international forces<\/a>, which has already begun, is tied to promises from the Taliban that they will not allow Afghanistan to be used as a staging arena for attacks against the United States and its allies. <\/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\/your-military\/2020\/05\/26\/report-pentagon-to-present-afghanistan-timelines-to-trump-including-one-for-a-withdrawal-by-election-day\/\" 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\/6106434.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\">Report: Pentagon to present Afghanistan timelines to Trump, including one for a withdrawal by Election Day<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Under the February agreement with the Taliban, the U.S. military plans to draw down to 8,600 troops in the country.<\/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\">Washington also wants Taliban\u2019s help in battling the Islamic State group, based in eastern Afghanistan and increasingly active in recent weeks. The U.S. has blamed IS for a horrific attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul last month that killed 24 people, including two infants and several mothers. IS has also claimed responsibility for several attack over the past two weeks, including on a busload of journalists that killed two people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Khalilzad, who was in Doha, Qatar, meeting the Taliban at their political headquarters before going to Pakistan, was expected sometime on Monday in Kabul for a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani as well as his longtime political rival, Abdullah Abdullah. The two have since signed a power-sharing agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sediq Sediqi, a spokesman for Ghani said the president would like to see talks with the Taliban start in one month. However, he did not clarify whether the Afghan government would release the remaining 2,000 plus Taliban prisoners beforehand, which has been a pre-condition for the start of negotiations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writer Tameem Akhgar in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Taliban have started putting together their agenda for negotiations with the political leadership in Kabul, Taliban officials said, a significant first step toward talks seen as perhaps the most critical next phase in the Afghan peace 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