The May deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan looms large over Washington. But it looms much larger over Kabul.
The US's intervention in the country, launched nearly 20 years ago, began as a mission to oust the Taliban and became a project to secure and stabilise the country. But today Afghanistan is neither secure nor stable, and the Taliban is as pervasive as ever.
A round of peace talks that began last September were meant to set the stage for real progress. They started an agreement in Doha, in which the Taliban consented to the talks and in exchange for the scheduled US withdrawal. But after five months of deliberations in plush Doha hotels, the talks have gone nowhere. A two-week recess was called in December, but has not really ended. The Taliban blames its dithering on the newly inaugurated administration of US President Joe Biden, indicating that it is waiting to see how the American approach to the talks may change.
Mr Biden has indicated that he will consider keeping US troops in Afghanistan a while longer. This is partly because the Taliban, according to the most recent report by the US's special inspector general for Afghanistan, has not met the deal's other two conditions: a commitment to reducing violence and a total end to the group's relationship with terrorist organisations.
Instead of returning to talks, senior Taliban operatives spent last week in the Iranian capital, Tehran. The Taliban, who before the US intervention were in a state of near-open warfare with Tehran, have recently begun ingratiating themselves, reportedly receiving money and even weapons from Iranian sources. This has been a point of concern for Kabul, which has long maintained a cautious, but friendly relationship with Tehran.
For Iran, which has already successfully implanted itself as a powerful wirepuller in its other large neighbour Iraq, Afghanistan could be fertile ground in which to extend its hegemony eastward. Even as they kept their Taliban guests from the negotiating table, Iranian officials assured them that they were better poised to mediate with Kabul than Washington.
An Afghan National Army soldier during an operation in Arghandab district of Kandahar Province on February 3, 2021. AFP
Afghan security forces patrol on the outskirts of Helmand, on January 17, 2021. Violence has surged across the country in recent weeks, despite the Afghan government and the Taliban committing to reduce their attacks. EPA
Afghan security officials present arrested members of the Taliban, in Herat, Afghanistan, on February 2, 2021. EPA
Afghan security officials present weapons confiscated from arrested members of the Taliban, in Herat, Afghanistan, on February 2, 2021. EPA
Hazara militia fighters stand inside their base ahead of a patrol against Taliban insurgents in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on January 9, 2021. Comprising roughly 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 38-million population, Hazaras have long been persecuted by the Taliban. AFP
Hazara militia fighters patrol against Taliban insurgents in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, on January 9, 2021. Comprising roughly 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan's 38-million population, Hazaras have long been persecuted by the Taliban. AFP
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, second right, meets with a Taliban delegation in Tehran, Iran on January 31, 2021. Tasnim News Agency
With resurging violence, continued safe haven for terrorists in Taliban areas and a total lack of appetite from the Taliban for peace talks, it is difficult to see any progress since the original deal was signed last February. The Taliban’s flirtations with Tehran will also put Washington in a state of alarm. In trying to bide its time to gain the upper hand, the Taliban has rendered the deal useless and probably precipitated a prolonging of the US intervention it means to end.
But if there was ever a time to sue for peace, it is now. Afghanistan had a particularly difficult 2020, both by the standards of 2020 itself and by those of recent Afghan history. Nearly 3,000 civilians were killed in the ongoing civil war, and 5,500 were wounded. The figure is 21 per cent lower than 2019, but that macabre silver lining was washed away by a further 2,400 deaths from Covid-19.
Compounding the tragedy, the country is experiencing a surge of polio cases and an epidemic of violent crime in its largest cities. The continued operation of schools and universities was meant to be a steady contributor to social and economic progress, but the pandemic has closed them. Forty per cent of young Afghans, according to the UN, are out of school and unemployed.
Afghan lives and livelihoods are deteriorating quickly. If the parties to the peace talks continue to ignore this and cannot secure a ceasefire, then whichever of them wins the war will merely be king of the ashes.
Dias Karmanov (KAZ) beat Mabrook Rasea (YEM) by points 2-1.
Male 54kg Round 1
Yelaman Sayassatov (KAZ) beat Chen Huang (TPE) TKO Round 1; Huynh Hoang Phi (VIE) beat Fahad Anakkayi (IND) RSC Round 2; Qais Al Jamal (JOR) beat Man Long Ng (MAC) by points 3-0; Ayad Albadr (IRQ) beat Yashar Yazdani (IRI) by points 2-1.
Male 57kg Round 1
Natthawat Suzikong (THA) beat Abdallah Ondash (LBN) by points 3-0; Almaz Sarsembekov (KAZ) beat Ahmed Al Jubainawi (IRQ) by points 2-1; Hamed Almatari (YEM) beat Nasser Al Rugheeb (KUW) by points 3-0; Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) beat Yu Xi Chen (TPE) by points 3-0.
Men 86kg Round 1
Ahmad Bahman (UAE) beat Mohammad Al Khatib (PAL) by points 2-1
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
