Biden Admin Urges Afghanistan to Cooperate with TalibanFrances Martel 12 May 2021
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price encouraged the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban to “engage in serious negotiations” to bring peace to Afghanistan on Tuesday, urging them to work together against the Islamic State the day before.
The Taliban considers itself the legitimate government of Afghanistan, dismissing the actual government as a usurpation. Kabul maintains a mirror image stance and considers the elimination of Taliban jihadist violence one of its primary goals. The two agreed this week, however, to a ceasefire in observance of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
On Saturday, shortly before Kabul accepted the ceasefire agreement, a massive jihadist attack struck a girls’ school in the capital, killing at least 85 and wounding over 100 others. While Taliban jihadists have openly opposed the education of girls and women for decades, Taliban spokesmen denied any involvement in the attack and called it a “cruel and senseless act of violence.” The Taliban declared an Eid ceasefire shortly after the attack. The Afghan government directly accused the Taliban of having orchestrated it.
Price, during his briefing Monday, suggested another culprit: the Islamic State Khorasan province (ISIS-K), its Afghan wing. ISIS-K has become one of the most powerful arms of the global jihadist group since the fall of its “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria and, as a fellow Sunni Muslim jihadist group, also has a history of violently opposing the education of girls. The Taliban, an ally of ISIS’s former parent group al-Qaeda, has engaged in clashes with ISIS terrorists as the latter grew in influence and territorial control in the past several years, potentially threatening the Taliban’s significant drug profits and political control.
“We are still looking into what or who is responsible, but I would note that ISIS has been responsible for similar attacks on Shia communities in Kabul in the past,” Price said Monday. “We note the Taliban has denied involvement in the attack, and we welcome their announcement of a three-day ceasefire over the upcoming Eid holiday.”
“We call on the Taliban and Afghan leaders to engage seriously in the ongoing peace process to ensure the Afghan people enjoy a future free of terrorism and of senseless violence,” Price urged.
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