Afghan Leaders to Form New Taliban Negotiation Front
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After the Taliban took over Afghanistan and as evacuations continue, an Afghan leader reports that senior officials are moving toward conducting talks with the Taliban.
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Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's presidential palace in Kabul (AP)
An Afghan leader said several veteran Afghan 'strongmen', including two provincial leaders, are heading toward conducting talks with the Taliban. He revealed that the talks will be within weeks with the aim of forming a new front to negotiate the upcoming Afghan government.
Khalid Nur, the son of Atta Muhammad Nur, a former Governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province, told Reuters "The group comprised of veteran ethnic Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum and others opposed to the Taliban's takeover."
In an interview for Reuters from an undisclosed location, Nur added, "We prefer to negotiate collectively because it is not that the problem of Afghanistan will be solved just by one of us."
Also, despite adhering to the negotiations, Nur saw that they are highly likely to falter.
Nur, the youngest member of the previous team that conducted governmental negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar, stressed that surrender is out of the question. He asserted that the Taliban would not be able to hold out against a popular resistance.
Last week, Ahmad Masoud, leader of the last major Afghan anti-Taliban resistance post, expressed his hopes that talks with the Taliban would "lead to an inclusive government." He stressed that if those efforts fail, his forces would be ready to fight.
Masoud had previously said the resistance is gaining ground against the Taliban, which he said does not represent Afghan society due to its conservative ideology.
Ata Nur and Abdul Rashid Dostum, the two veteran Afghan strongmen that withstood through the 4-decade-long conflict, fled the country when the Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif.
