EU calls for a ceasefire in Afghanistan with a chance for a truce

On October 20, European Union authorities called for a ceasefire in Afghanistan, saying the breakdown in talks between the US and the Taliban displayed a chance to push once more for a truce. US President Donald Trump a month ago stated that the dialogues with the militant organisation were "dead", referring to a Taliban assault that killed an American soldier.

A possible solution? 

Dealings had been in the last stages for a mutual arrangement that would have seen the US soldiers pull out from Afghanistan after a total of 18 years in exchange for a guarantee by the Taliban. The arrangement did not lead to a quick and complete ceasefire. Instead, it would have led to a decrease in violence and later on led to the talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

Roland Kobia, the EU diplomat to Afghanistan, said the breakdown of discussions gave an opportunity to push to a truce which would, thus, demonstrate a big change in Afghanistan for Trump to consider restarting the dialogues between the US and Taliban. When asked how the EU, which has a limited presence in Afghanistan, could formulate a truce, Kobia proposed that the Taliban may come back in power in "some way" in the coming months. Therefore, it would engage a ceasefire to help normalise future relations with the European bloc.

Read: Taliban Spokesperson Welcomes US Prez's Idea Of Retracting The Troops

A boon for Ashraf Ghani

In the events that preceded this, American President Donald Trump's decision to stall the dialogues between the US and the Taliban seemed to be a boon for Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani has insisted on holding a key election in a less time span despite people thinking that the peace deal might play its part in sidelining the elections. A sudden halt with respect to the deal to put a stop to USA's longest-standing war. Afghanistan is facing a presidential vote amid tensions that give the feeling of violence on a greater scale. 

Read: Pakistani Taliban Terror Group Resurfaces And Threatens Women And Kids

The extremist group who has half of Afghanistan in its grip told the citizens not to vote and made it clear that meetings and voting booths would be under their target. With the collapse of the peace deal with America that would have ended the decades-long war, the Taliban lost every ounce of trust and promised to keep on fighting. The militant group also termed President Ghani's government a marionette of the US.

Read: Taliban Rejects Afghan Govt's Claims Of Killing AQIS Chief Asim Omar

Ashraf Ghani insisted that the elections will go ahead even with the US more inclined towards inking a peace deal that would determine Afghanistan's future. A lot of people contesting the elections were so certain that the peace deal would delay the elections that they did not organise a campaign to gain votes for themselves. Even though certain restrictions held back Ghani, he was seen gunning for a second term with an agenda that would deal with the problem of the Taliban.

Read: Taliban Frees 3 Indians Engineer Hostages In Swap For 11 Prisoners

(With inputs from agencies)