KABUL: The UN envoy to Afghanistan called on the Taliban on Wednesday to join peace efforts as the bulk of NATO combat troops prepare to leave the country by the end of next year.
Follow up:
“My message to the insurgency is basically a sort of long-term message: you are Afghans, you care, I assume, about your country, you care about peaceful stable future of the country,” Jan Kubis told a news conference.
The withdrawal and next year’s presidential election, when President Hamid Karzai will step down after 13 years in power, have lent urgency to the search for a negotiated settlement to end Afghanistan’s decades of conflict.
The Taliban, ousted from power by a 2001 US-led invasion for refusing to give up al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks, are leading a deadly insurgency against Western troops and the Afghan government.
Follow up:
“My message to the insurgency is basically a sort of long-term message: you are Afghans, you care, I assume, about your country, you care about peaceful stable future of the country,” Jan Kubis told a news conference.
The withdrawal and next year’s presidential election, when President Hamid Karzai will step down after 13 years in power, have lent urgency to the search for a negotiated settlement to end Afghanistan’s decades of conflict.
The Taliban, ousted from power by a 2001 US-led invasion for refusing to give up al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks, are leading a deadly insurgency against Western troops and the Afghan government.
