Afghan govt to start peace talks with Taliban this week: All you need to know

The Afghan government and the Taliban will open peace talks on Saturday in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, trying to reach a power-sharing deal as American troops leave the country after nearly two decades.

The negotiations which is the result of an agreement between Washington and the Taliban, are to begin in Doha after the release of the last half-dozen or so of 5,000 Taliban prisoners

That deal aims to end Afghanistan’s protracted war and bring American troops home while the intra-Afghan talks are to set a road map for a post-war society in Afghanistan.

As part of their agreement with the Americans, the Taliban committed to preventing terrorist groups from using Afghanistan as a base of operations.

The negotiations are expected to be a difficult process as the two sides struggle to end the fighting and debate ways of protecting the rights of women and minorities.

According to The Guardian, The Taliban delegation is headed by the group’s deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who a decade ago was jailed by Pakistani authorities for trying to open peace talks with Afghan authorities. He was released in 2018.

Religious scholar Mawlawi Abdul Hakim Haqqani will also take a senior role in negotiating on behalf of the Taliban and is thought to carry weight with fighters on the ground.

The Afghan government delegation is led by Abdullah Abdullah, who for several years served as “CEO” in a government of national unity under president Ashraf Ghani.