Afghan peace talks fail

Fifteen diplomatic missions and the Nato representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban yesterday to halt their military offensives just hours after the rival Afghan sides failed to agree on a ceasefire at a peace meeting in Doha.

A delegation of Afghan leaders met the Taliban's political leadership in the Qatari capital over the weekend but the Taliban, in a said in a statement late on Sunday, made no mention of a halt to Afghanistan's escalating violence.

"This Eid al-Adha, the Taliban should lay down their weapons for good and show the world their commitment to the peace process," the 15 missions and the Nato representative said, referring to today's Muslim holiday in Afghanistan.

The statement was supported by Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the European Union delegation, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Britain and the United States and Nato's senior civilian representative.

Over recent Eid holidays, the Taliban have called short ceasefires, saying they wanted to let Afghans spend them in peace.

This time there has been no such announcement as the Taliban make swift territorial gains in near-unprecedented levels of fighting nationwide as US-led foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of fighting.

Yesterday's statement also condemned rights violations, such as efforts to shut schools and media outlets in areas recently captured by the Taliban.

In Doha, political leaders and the Taliban discussed a political settlement to end the conflict, the chairman of a council for peace, Abdullah Abdullah, who took part in the talks, said yesterday.

"We agreed to continue the talks, seek a political settlement to the current crisis, avoid civilian casualties, facilitate humanitarian assistance and medical supplies to tackle Covid-19 pandemic," he said on Twitter.