sábado, 20 de julio de 2019

If Taliban returns | The Indian Express

Written by Khaled Ahmed |Updated: July 20, 2019 1:55:08 am

Khaled Ahmed was born in 1943 in Jallandhar during the siege of Stalingrad. He has been an opinion writer based in Pakistan for the past 40 years. Over his decades of experience, he has worked for <em>The Pakistan Times, The Nation, The Frontier Post, The Friday Times and The Daily Times, three of which have been closed down either permanently or temporarily. He is now consulting editor at Newsweek Pakistan, based in Lahore.</em> Ahmed graduated from Government College Lahore during the 1965 war with India with an MA (Honours) on the roll of honour, along with a diploma in German from Punjab University. In 1970, he received a diploma in Russian (Interpretation) from Moscow State University. In 2006, he wrote the book, Sectarian War: Sunni-Shia Conflict in Pakistan at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington DC.

If Taliban returns

Children, women will have to bear the brunt of an Islamist revival in Kabul

Taliban, Afghanistan, Afghanistan Taliban, Taliban Afghanistan, US Afghanistan talks, US-Afghan talks, Afghanistan Talks US, Ashraf Ghani, Ashraf Ghani Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, Taliban Afghanistan talks, Pakistan Taliban, Pakistan Afghanistan, Indian Express, latest news — The number of attacks on schools tripled, according to UNICEF, rising from 68 in 2017 to 192 in 2018. The war has closed down 1,000 schools, depriving some 5,00,000 children of their right to learning. (Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times)

The US-Taliban talks have bogged down because the latter is not willing to negotiate with the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul. Washington is keen to leave Afghanistan and save the $45 billion it spends there annually but is troubled over what the Taliban will do to Afghanistan after it leaves. The Taliban has refused to talk to the US-supported Ghani government because they already control half of Afghanistan and fear internal splits if they play ball and negotiate.