China News Service, September 9th. According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Chinese website, at present, the Afghan government and Taliban representatives are preparing to hold talks in Qatar, hoping to end the conflict in Afghanistan that lasted more than 20 years.
But this "peace talk" road is not easy.
The talks were originally scheduled to be held in March, but the two sides were unable to reach a consensus on the exchange of prisoners and have been postponed to this day.
According to reports, this meeting is part of an agreement reached between the United States and Taliban members in February 2020.
The agreement includes a temporary timetable for the withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan, and also requires the Taliban to talk directly with Afghan government officials.
However, throughout the process, the Taliban have repeatedly shown that it will not compromise easily.
The Taliban and the Afghan government have already postponed the date of their talks because of the issue of the release of prisoners of war from both sides.
As part of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban, the Afghan government will release 5,000 captured Taliban militants, while the other side will release 1,000 captured Afghan government forces.
The Taliban insisted on the Afghan government to release 5,000 militants in accordance with the agreement, and one must not be less. However, the Afghan government opposed the agreement on the grounds that the agreement was only a matter between the United States and the Taliban and did not participate in the signing. Attacks were launched in some large cities.
Afghanistan finally compromised and released all detained militants, but still detained 400 militants accused of committing serious crimes.
But differences still exist, mainly because the Afghan government also requested the Taliban to release captured government forces. France and Australia also accused some of the released militants of planning attacks to kill their own nationals and opposed the release of these people.
In the end, with the intervention of the United States, all the detained militants were released except for the seven militants accused of participating in planning attacks against foreign troops.
It is expected that the Afghan government and the Taliban will try to promote a peace agreement through this meeting in Qatar and formally end the armed conflict.
However, reports say that Taliban members seem to want to continue their attacks in exchange for more bargaining chips.
At the same time, the negotiating parties will also try to establish a new political system in Afghanistan.
While the Afghan government and the Taliban are in peace talks, American soldiers are gradually withdrawing from Afghanistan.
If the Taliban abide by the agreement reached with the United States in February 2020, the United States will withdraw completely by May 2021.
The report pointed out that the negotiation process between the Afghan government and the Taliban may be very long, and it is difficult for the outside world to predict the outcome, but after more than 20 years of turmoil, this negotiation can at least give Afghans a chance to look forward to peace.