Al-Qaeda leader remains close to the Taliban says UN official

A senior UN official, on October 16, said that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has maintained close ties with the Taliban even though the Islamic Emirate assured the US to cut ties with the group. Edmund Fitton-Brown, who is the coordinator of the UN monitoring team for Daesh, al-Qaeda and the Taliban said that the senior figures remain in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of armed operatives. According to Tolo News, the Taliban even regularly ‘consulted’ with al-Qaeda during the peace negotiations with the US. 

Brown said, “Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri remains close to the Taliban. The Taliban regularly consulted with al-Qaeda during the negotiations with the United States and they offered informal guarantees that would honor their historic ties with al-Qaeda”. 

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However, the Taliban has rejected the claims and said that certain intelligence groups are attempting to disrupt peace in Afghanistan. The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad had said that Iran wants American to remain engaged in the Afghan war and is not supporting the peace process in Afghanistan. 

Khalilzad said, “I think it’s difficult to speak about Iran because there isn’t one Iran, there are two Irans. There is foreign ministry Iran which says positive things and expresses ideas or makes statements that could be construed as supportive of a peace process, but there is another Iran that would like to keep the US entangled in a war that they would like to be unwinnable”. 

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Intra-Afghan peace talks 

Meanwhile, Khalilzad on Thursday urged the Taliban to stay committed to the ongoing US-brokered peace deal with the Afghan government. The Special US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation announced that the US and the Taliban have agreed to strictly implement all elements of the peace deal signed in February. The Afghan-American diplomat said that the agreement over the implementation of a peace deal means reduced numbers of operations as “too many Afghans are dying” at present. He added that the parties expect the number of casualties to drop significantly. 

The intra-Afghan negotiations kicked off in Doha under the chairmanship of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 12. However, the spotlight from the peace talks has faded after the lavish opening ceremony since the warring parties continue to disagree on even basic issues. The violence in the region was expected to reduce, however, it has increased unexpectedly over the last few weeks. According to Tolo News, the Taliban also attacked parts of Helman a week ago leaving thousands of families displaced. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

(Image: AP) 

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