Taliban should call 1-month ceasefire to prove they still have control of militant forces – Kabul

The Taliban should call a one-month ceasefire to prove they still control their forces, Afghanistan’s national security advisor said on Tuesday. Hamdullah Mohib, a strong critic of earlier US-Taliban negotiations that excluded his government, said the Taliban no longer operate as a cohesive body and some commanders may have joined Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), AFP reported.

“If the Taliban really want peace, they should prove how much control they have over their commanders and how much they really obey their commands,” Mohib said.

Observers have sometimes questioned whether there is a disconnect between the Taliban’s political wing, based in Doha, and its military commanders in Afghanistan.

Washington’s Afghan peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, remained in Pakistan on Tuesday as part of efforts to find a negotiated end to Afghanistan’s 18-year war, even though President Donald Trump hasn’t expressed any interest in resuming talks with the Taliban.