{"id":67983,"date":"2020-12-13T17:28:16","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T17:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/12\/13\/optimism-for-peace-process-among-afghans-decreases-significantly-amid-violence-report-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:27:25","slug":"optimism-for-peace-process-among-afghans-decreases-significantly-amid-violence-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/12\/13\/optimism-for-peace-process-among-afghans-decreases-significantly-amid-violence-report-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimism for peace process among Afghans decreases significantly amid violence, report says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 Optimism among Afghans regarding the country\u2019s peace process has decreased significantly in the past few months amid a spike in violence, according to a survey released Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Institute of War and Peace Studies found optimism had dropped to 57 percent when the survey was conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 18. That\u2019s down from 86 percent of those surveyed according to the previous assessment conducted over the summer and released in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ongoing peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Qatar had been at an impasse until last week, when in a breakthrough, the two sides agreed on rules and procedures<\/a> for the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, since the Afghan-Taliban talks started in September<\/a>, violence has spiked significantly. The Taliban have staged deadly attacks on Afghan forces while keeping their promise not to attack U.S. and NATO troops. The attacks have drawn a mighty retaliation by the Afghan air force, backed by U.S. warplanes<\/a>. International rights groups have warned both sides to avoid inflicting civilian casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\t