A Fragile Afghan Peace Agreement

Al-Etihad, UAE, April 16

The peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan appears to be in danger of collapse. For several months, the Taliban negotiated with the US administration a deal aimed at bringing peace to war-torn Afghanistan. Although the two sides signed the agreement two months ago, the momentum for its implementation has markedly slowed down, as the Taliban accused the United States of committing serious violations of the agreement, including attacks by unmanned aircraft against civilians and delaying the release of 5,000 prisoners from US-supervised jails. This development alone indicates the great lack of trust that exists between the two parties. The difficulty in implementing the agreement comes at a time when the United States has been shifting its attention to its domestic concerns revolving around coronavirus. From the US perspective, the deal gives Washington a chance to get out of Afghanistan, something President Donald Trump has promised to do since he came to power. However, the success of the project depends on more than just these two sides. A third party, the Afghan government, must also provide its consent to the agreement. This is considered more decisive. If the Afghan government and the Taliban fail to work together sincerely, then Afghanistan can once again plunge into endless chaos. On their end, Taliban activists have launched an extensive awareness-raising campaign for coronavirus, working to emphasize the need for residents to remain in quarantine, wear masks and use gloves. They have also provided safe corridors in Afghanistan for health workers and international organizations working to prevent the spread of the virus. In doing so, the Taliban hope that they can help build trust with the government, leading to a permanent ceasefire. However, this has not happened yet, as the Taliban continue to launch attacks against Afghan security forces while the government refuses to release the Taliban prisoners in its grip. Therefore, it is clear that a fatal epidemic has not succeeded in bringing a degree of ceasefire between the parties to the conflict so far. – Zuhur Al-Rahman (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)