AFGHAN GOVT OFFERS POWER-SHARING DEAL WITH TALIBAN TO END VIOLENCE: REPORT

The Ashraf Ghani-led Afghanistan government on Thursday offered to share power with the Taliban in a bid to stop the escalating violence in the war-torn country where the insurgent group has captured 11 provincial capitals so far, local media reported.

ARY News reported that the government had offered a power-sharing deal in which it has also asked the Taliban to end attacks on civilians. The development came soon after Taliban spokesperson Qari Yousaf Ahmadi said the group had captured Ghazni city, the capital of the eponymous province in Afghanistan’s southeast.

The Afghanistan government, during the extended Troika meetingin Qatar’s Doha has raised grave concerns over the Taliban’s brutal attacks on cities, which have led to war crimes and blatant human rights violations and humanitarian catastrophe in the country, Afghan foreign ministry said.

The extended Doha Troika meeting, comprising the US, Russia, China, and Pakistan, was aimed at resuming meaningful intra-Afghan peace negotiations even as US-led foreign troops finalised their withdrawal from the region.

The Taliban on Thursday claimed to have seized Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city amid US troop withdrawal from the country. Heart is 11th Afghan provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban. Buildings in the province, including the police headquarters, came under Taliban control, and government forces “laid down their arms,” it added.

Local media and journalists posted images and videos of Afghan forces fleeing from the city in the western part of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that Taliban have entered Kandahar city. Some local residents told the media outlet that the situation in Afghanistan’s second-largest city was “dire”, as intense fighting rages between rebels and government forces inside the city limits.

Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against Afghan forces and civilians with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.

Due to rising violence in the country by the Taliban, the situation is deteriorating badly as the terror group has been looting people and killing civilians after capturing multiple areas from the government.

The Taliban escalated its offensive against the Afghan forces soon after the US forces started leaving Afghanistan in large numbers after the peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year.

On Wednesday, President Ashraf Ghani appointed a new chief of army staff in an attempt to give a robust response to the terror group on the ground. Haibatullah Alizai replaced Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, as the new chief of army staff. Alizai previously worked as commander of the Afghan National Army Commando.

WITH ANI INPUTS