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Radical Islamic Taliban fighters in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz
Photo: Abdullah Sahil / dpa
The last NATO soldiers left the US base in Bagram at the beginning of July. This ended the 20-year deployment of the troops in Afghanistan. Since then, the radical Islamic Taliban have conquered several territories. Among other things, the city of Kunduz in the north is under their control. NATO sees this development with "deep concern." This was announced by a NATO official from the news agency dpa and referred to the high level of violence of the militant Islamist Taliban in their offensive, including attacks on civilians and reports of human rights violations.
The Taliban had to understand that the international community would never recognize them if they refused to go to the political process and wanted to conquer the country by force.
"You must stop your attacks and participate honestly in peace talks," said the official.
The conflict cannot be resolved militarily, it said.
A peace process under Afghan leadership must promote a ceasefire and a political solution.
In particular, it must safeguard the human rights of women, children and minorities and ensure that Afghanistan "will never again become a safe haven for terrorists."
NATO calls on all regional actors to contribute constructively, as everyone would benefit from a safe and stable Afghanistan.
USA want to negotiate in Qatar
The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, made a similar statement.
He had left for Qatar "to persuade the Taliban to end their military offensive and to negotiate a political solution," said the US State Department.
In the three-day talks, the US wants to work with representatives of countries in the region as well as with multilateral organizations to reduce violence and a ceasefire and commit to not recognizing any violent government, it said.
Khalilzad was instrumental in negotiating the modalities of the withdrawal of US troops with the Taliban.
The withdrawal of international troops began at the beginning of May, and the Taliban has been rapidly gaining power since then.
Despite the alarming advance, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer defended the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr from Afghanistan.
The US is currently sticking to its withdrawal plans.
The White House and the Pentagon repeatedly emphasize that the combat deployment of US troops in Afghanistan will end in around three weeks as planned.
From 1996 until the US-led intervention in 2001, the Taliban controlled large parts of Afghanistan.
lau / dpa / AFP / Reuters