Conflict trends

Afghanistan

Representatives from the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha this week to begin intra-Afghan peace talks, which were supposed to immediately follow the U.S.-Taliban agreement in February. Crisis Group expert Andrew Watkins says that after persistent delays, expectations for the first round of talks should remain modest as both sides still need to agree on an agenda and roadmap for talks. The Taliban have already rebuffed the government’s desire to discuss a ceasefire, seemingly pushing to begin with a discussion on power-sharing arrangements instead.