NSA says govt will maintain peace by force if talks fail

The National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib said on Sunday that government will maintain peace by force if intra-Afghan peace negotiations currently underway in Doha fail.

Speaking during a visit to the southern province of Helmand to assess the security situation, Mohib told Afghan soldiers that the Afghan security and defense forces have the capability of eliminating the armed opposition.

“Those (Taliban) who do not want, despite government’s willingness to compromise; but they want to fuel insecurity in the country and disturb the people; if it is not achieved via dialogue (peace), we will maintain peace by force.”

Meanwhile, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Commander of US forces in Afghanistan General Scott Miller on Saturday met with the Taliban delegation in Doha to discuss issues around peace negotiations.

The Taliban delegation led by the group’s deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar discussed the importance and implementation of the agreement and the current situation of the country with the US officials, the Taliban political spokesman Mohammad Naeem said.

“All sides emphasized that issues should be solved via dialogue and every side should fairly fulfill its responsibilities in this regard,” Naeem tweeted.

The Taliban also discussed “the issue of the release of its remaining detainees and the removal of [their members from the US] Blacklist, which are the text and important items of the [US-Taliban] agreement.”

“The lack of total implementation of the agreement, and especially not taking serious measures about the above mentioned two articles, which should have been acted on to the large extent, can affect the ongoing process of negotiations,” Naeem stated.