‘Taliban offer to reduce violence won’t aid peace’

Bloomberg

The Taliban’s offer to reduce violence for several days ahead of fresh talks with the US would not bring the war-torn nation any closer to peace when the majority of the country remained excluded from the negotiations, a senior Afghan official said.
“The plan for violence reduction or anything of its kind is a vague proposal” that can deceive citizens and the international community, second Vice President of Afghanistan, Sarwar Danish said in the capital Kabul.
“So far, the government and the people — including civil society, political parties, and ethnic groups — have been sidelined in the peace negotiations,” between the Taliban and the US “and, in such a situation, peace cannot be achieved,” Danish said.
The Taliban offered a 7 to 10 day halt in its military operations ahead of renegotiations with the US. The proposal
was given to Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation.
The US had asked for a complete long-term ceasefire before a peace deal. The deal will allow some 13,000 troops to return home and bring an end to the 18-year war in Afghanistan. .
“Reduced violence isn’t a form a ceasefire, it is still a form of violence,” said Waheed Omar, a close aide to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, on Twitter.
Taliban, which controls a large swathe of Afghanistan, has said it will open direct talks with Afghan officials after the US troop withdrawal deal.