Despite Bloody Week In Afghanistan, U.S. Pushes Taliban Peace Talks Forward by David Welna – National Public Radio
With less than four days to go before peace talks are to begin in Afghanistan between that nation's authorities and the Taliban insurgency, things are not looking promising.
Taliban fighters are stepping up attacks on Afghan security forces. American warplanes are counterattacking. And a prisoner exchange that was to take place before those intra-Afghan talks start is being rejected by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
On Friday in western Kabul, the Associated Press reports that gunmen opened fire at a largely Shiite gathering, killing at least 32 and injuring scores more. The Islamic State-Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack.
All this comes after the U.S. and the Taliban — but not the Afghan government — signed an agreement Feb. 29 in Doha, Qatar with the stated aim of "bringing peace to Afghanistan" more than 18 years after U.S. forces pushed the Taliban out of power…