Talking to the Taliban While Still Fighting the Taliban by Krishnadev Calamur - Defense One
Nearly a year since the Trump administration rolled out its South Asia strategy, carnage in Afghanistan continues even as negotiations for peace inches ahead.
The latest headlines from Afghanistan are much like the old headlines from Afghanistan. This week, U.S.-backed Afghan troops forced the Taliban out of Ghazni city, only after dozens of people had already been killed by the militant group. Afghan forces could do little as Taliban fighters seized Camp Chinaya, a military outpost in the north, killing 17 soldiers. And on Wednesday, the militants killed more than 40 troops and policemen in Baghlan province, also in the north.
Taken individually, each development is an embarrassing defeat for the Afghan government and its Western supporters; taken together, the setbacks, especially the events in Ghazni, challenge the U.S. and Afghan government’s narrative of progress in the conflict. “The Taliban was able to mass, plan, and execute an offensive under the noses of the Afghan government, military, police, as well as [NATO’s] Resolute Support [mission]. They did this undetected,” Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told me. “Even if the Taliban is not able to take control of the city, or hold it … they’ve really struck a blow to the Afghan government and Afghan security forces and Resolute Support as well.” …