Taliban negotiations

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Afghan Government's Move May Wreck US-Taliban Deal

It's postponing the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners

(Newser) - The Afghan government Saturday postponed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, an Afghan official said, a decision that could sabotage a peace deal signed last month between the Taliban and the US. Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the Afghan National Security Adviser's office, said the releases were being delayed...

Top US Envoy Says Peace Deal With Taliban Agreed

He says troop pullout deal still needs Trump's approval

(Newser) - After almost 18 years of war, a peace deal between the US and the Taliban has been agreed to "in principle," according to Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief American negotiator. Khalilzad said Monday that as part of the deal, some 5,400 American troops out of around 14,000...

Taliban Boss: We Can't Win
 Taliban Boss: 
 We Can't Win 
INTERVIEW
Jul 11, 2012 6:53 AM CDT

Taliban Boss: We Can't Win

Calls al-Qaeda 'plague', bin Laden death 'relief'

(Newser) - A top Taliban commander says his group "cannot prevail" in Afghanistan, and leaders know it. "Any Taliban leader expecting to be able to capture Kabul is making a grave mistake," the unnamed leader, a former Guantanamo detainee, tells the New Statesman in an interview previewed by the...

US, Afghanistan, Taliban: Secret Talks Under Way

Hamid Karzai is in Pakistan today to discuss negotiations

(Newser) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Pakistan today, one day after telling the Wall Street Journal that his country has entered into three-way peace talks with the Taliban and the US. Karzai is in Pakistan to discuss the negotiations and request that country's help; Islamabad's cooperation is necessary,...

US-Taliban Peace Talks Could Resume Within Weeks

Hamid Karzai just needs to give the OK

(Newser) - Peace talks between the US and the Taliban could resume within weeks, just as soon as Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives the go-ahead. The last tentative deal, which involved transferring five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan custody, fell apart in December because Karzai would not cooperate, the Washington ...

Taliban to Open Qatar Office for US Peace Talks

Talks eschew Hamid Karzai's Afganistan government

(Newser) - The Taliban admitted publicly for the first time today that it is in the midst of peace talks with the US, announcing that it would open a “political office” in Qatar to conduct them. The militant organization’s statement pointedly made no mention of the Kabul-based Afghan government, however,...

Kabul Demands Lead Role in Taliban Talks

Afghanistan wants no foreign influence in negotiations

(Newser) - Afghanistan today told foreign powers to take a back seat in talks with the Taliban and let Kabul lead the way, Reuters reports. Afghanistan's High Peace Council put its foot down after the US, Qatar, and Germany secretly set up an office for the Taliban in Qatar to continue...

Taliban: We're in Peace Talks With Pakistan

Move appears to exploit US-Pakistani tensions

(Newser) - The deputy chief of the Pakistani Taliban announced today that the militant group was in peace talks with the government and an agreement to end its brutal 4-year insurgency was within striking distance. The statement by Malvi Faqir Mohammad, which appeared timed to exploit tensions between the Pakistan army and...

Afghans Leaked US-Taliban Talks to End Them

US contact Tayyab Aga has fled to Europe

(Newser) - Someone in the Afghan presidential palace intentionally leaked the news that the US was negotiating with the Taliban, scuttling the talks and sending the US contact into hiding, sources tell the AP . Hamid Karzai didn't trust the US and feared any deal between it and the Taliban would diminish...

US-Taliban Talks Collapse
 US-Taliban Talks Collapse 
Aug 11, 2011 10:07 AM CDT

US-Taliban Talks Collapse

Taliban unhappy over media leaks

(Newser) - The US-Taliban talks have been cut off, thanks to media leaks. Western diplomats tell the Telegraph that confidentiality was a key condition of the talks, held in Germany and Qatar in March and April, but they were halted after just three meetings because details were leaked. Among other things, the...

Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks
 Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks 
Jun 18, 2011 5:41 AM CDT

Karzai: US, Taliban in Talks

US has no comment

(Newser) - The United States is talking with the Taliban, Hamid Karzai said today, in the first official glimmer of an end to the 10-year war in Afghanistan. "Peace talks have started with (the Taliban) already and it is going well," Karzai said. "The foreign military and especially the...

US-Taliban Talks Speed Up
 US-Taliban Talks Speed Up 
May 17, 2011 6:50 AM CDT

US-Taliban Talks Speed Up

Officials hope Obama will have progress to report by July

(Newser) - The US has accelerated direct talks with the Taliban, a move that predates the killing of Osama bin Laden. US representatives have attended at least three meetings with a Taliban official believed to be close to the group's leader, the most recent of which was just "eight or...

Taliban Chief at Peace Talks Was Impostor

Fake leader paid handsomely for taking part in talks

(Newser) - A "Taliban leader" heavily involved in peace talks in Afghanistan was an impostor, according to US and Afghan officials. The man, who pretended to be high-ranking Taliban leader Mullah Mansour, was flown to several meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and was given a sizable sum of cash for...

NATO Escorts Taliban Elite to Afghan Peace Talks

Talks have included commanders at the highest level of insurgency

(Newser) - NATO troops have been helping top Taliban commanders get to Kabul for face-to-face peace talks with Hamid Karzai, sources tell the New York Times. In at least one case, Taliban leaders actually hopped aboard a NATO aircraft to make the journey, and in others NATO has secured roads, promising leaders...

US Backs Taliban Talks
 US Backs Taliban Talks 
Oct 15, 2010 1:00 AM CDT

US Backs Taliban Talks

Clinton: 'Stranger things have happened'

(Newser) - Western nations seem to be quickly warming to the idea of talking peace with the Taliban. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who only last month said talks would be premature, backed the idea at a NATO meeting yesterday, the AP reports. "Whenever opportunities arise that are worth exploring, I think...

Taliban, Karzai In Talks to End War

Leaders seeking peace deal, role in government: sources

(Newser) - The Taliban are in secret talks with the Afghan government to end the war, according to the Washington Post , which cites Arab and Afghan sources. The Taliban's representatives are this time authorized to speak on behalf of Mullah Omar and other leaders and "they are very, very serious about...

US' New Afghanistan Tactic: Targeted Killing

US gaining leverage by weeding out top Taliban

(Newser) - So much for winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan: The tactic that's working best for the US is the targeted assassination of insurgent leaders, reports the New York Times, rather than winning allegiance for providing stable government. Some 130 Taliban leaders have been taken out in the last five months,...

It's Time to Negotiate With the Taliban: Brit Army Boss

We're winning battles, but not the war

(Newser) - It's time to negotiate with the Taliban, because NATO forces will not defeat them in battle in Afghanistan, the head of the British army said yesterday. General Sir David Richards said that while allied forces can continue to "punish" the Taliban in individual battles, overall victory is now looking...

US Troops Wooing Taliban Foot Soldiers

What Washington still debates, soldiers are implementing

(Newser) - As Washington debates reconciling with Taliban commanders, US Marines on the ground in Afghanistan are already welcoming Taliban foot soldiers back into the fold. Reintegration, a process in which militants swear before their tribal elders to renounce the Taliban, is playing a growing role in American efforts to win over...

McChrystal: No One's Winning in Afghanistan

Taliban have lost momentum, says top US commanders

(Newser) - The good news is, the Taliban aren't winning in Afghanistan. The bad news is, nobody else is winning either, according to the top US commander in Afghanistan. The US has made some progress, however, and the insurgency has lost the momentum many believed it had gained a year ago, Gen....

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser