Violence reduction in focus as Hekmatyar meets Qureshi

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan and former prime minister, on Monday held talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to discuss steps that would help reduce violence in the war-torn country.

Hekmatyar is on a three-day visit to Pakistan as part of the ongoing high level exchanges between the two countries as intra-Afghan dialogue is under way in Doha to seek an end to the decades-old unrest in Afghanistan.

On the first day of his visit, the former Mujahideen leader met Foreign Minister Qureshi and reviewed efforts for the Afghan peace. The two sides, officials said, discussed the steps that might lead to reduction in violence in Afghanistan.

Despite the start of the intra-Afghan talks, there is no let-up in violence amid renewed calls from the US and Afghanistan on all sides to abide by the February 29. The US and the Taliban have accused each other for violating the accord with stepped up attacks from both sides.

On Sunday, the US military had defended its air strikes against Taliban fighters last week, as the insurgent group accused Washington of violating a signed agreement.

“American forces have violated the Doha agreement in various forms by carrying out excessive air strikes following the new developments in Helmand,” Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi said in a statement.

Col Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the US forces, denied that the strikes violated the deal. “The entire world has witnessed the Taliban’s offensive operations in Helmand – attacks which injured and displaced thousands of innocent Afghan civilians,” Leggett said on Twitter, reiterating a call for “all sides” to reduce violence.

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who met the Taliban last week in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to agree to a ‘reset’ of their commitments, said violence was still too high. “Unfounded charges of violations and inflammatory rhetoric do not advance peace,” he said on Twitter on Monday, urging strict adherence to the troop withdrawal deal and a gradual easing of violence.

While last week’s major fighting in Helmand has simmered down, violence elsewhere continues. Since Saturday, Taliban clashes with security forces in several districts of northeastern Badakhshan, including its capital of Faizabad, have killed at least four of the forces.

Talks between Taliban and Afghan government negotiators began last month in Doha, but the process has only moved slowly, while violence escalated, a factor that diplomats and officials have said is sapping the trust needed for negotiations to succeed.

The US and Afghanistan have requested Pakistan to play its role in persuading the Taliban to reduce the violence. The issue was among the main agenda items during the meeting between Hekmatyar and Qureshi, officials said here.

A statement issued by the Foreign Office said Qureshi welcomed the delegation and underscored the historic ties of amity and brotherhood between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen the close fraternal relations between the two countries.

The foreign minister emphasised that Pakistan had always supported a peaceful, stable, united, democratic, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan had consistently underlined that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, he said.

Foreign Minister Qureshi added that Pakistan facilitated the process that culminated in the US-Taliban Peace Agreement in Doha on February 29, 2020 and supported the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations.

The foreign minister stressed the importance of an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process. He underscored that all parties must honour their respective commitments and work for reduction in violence leading to ceasefire.

The Afghan leaders must seize this historic opportunity to achieve durable and sustainable peace in Afghanistan, Qureshi said. He also underlined the importance of exercising vigilance and guarding against the role of ‘spoilers’, both within and outside.

The foreign minister highlighted the steps taken by Pakistan to support Afghanistan on its path to reconstruction and economic development as well as for improved transit and bilateral trade relations. He underlined the importance of making the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour a part of the peace process.