Officials in four provinces of Afghanistan say a series of Taliban attacks on security checkpoints have killed at least 32 members of the Afghan security forces and pro-government militias.

The attacks took place in the northern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, and Takhar, and in the western province of Badghis on January 10.

In Kunduz, Qala-e Zal district chief Ahmad Fahim Qarluq said attacks by a large number of Taliban fighters in the early morning hours killed 10 soldiers and police and wounded 11.

Qarluq said 25 Taliban fighters were killed in those clashes.

In neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, local Afghan officials said the Taliban killed 16 members of pro-government militias.

They said the militants also suffered heavy casualties.

Jamshid Shahabi, a spokesman for the governor of Badghis Province, said six members of the security forces were killed and 10 wounded in clashes at checkpoints and other security outposts.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attacks.

He said in a statement that Taliban fighters killed dozens of Afghan troops and had seized a large amount of ammunition and weapons.

The Taliban has ramped up attacks on security forces and government facilities in recent months, while Afghan and U.S. troops have increased operations against the militants' field commanders.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, dpa, and Tolo News</s>The Taliban launched a series of attacks on security checkpoints in four Afghan provinces early on Thursday, killing 32 members of the security forces and pro-government militias, provincial officials said.

Both sides in Afghanistan's 17-year war have kept up attacks this winter, with the Taliban inflicting a heavy toll on government forces, and the U.S. military and their government allies killing Taliban field commanders with air strikes.

At the same time, tentative peace efforts have been under with U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad holding three rounds of talks with the Taliban, although the insurgents called off a fourth round this week.

The latest Taliban attacks came in the northern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, and Badghis in the west.

Ahmad Fahim Qarluq, the chief of the Qala-e-Zal district in Kunduz, said a large number of Taliban attacked security checkpoints in the early hours, killing 10 soldiers and police and wounding 11.

In neighbouring Baghlan and Takhar provinces, the Taliban killed 16 members of pro-government militias in attacks on outposts, officials said.

They also said the Taliban suffered heavy casualties.

To the west, in Badghis province, Jamshid Shahabi, spokesman for the governor, said six members of the security forces were killed and 10 wounded in clashes.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attacks, and said in statement that the militants had killed dozens of members of the security forces and captured a large number of weapon and ammunition.</s>Kabul: Taliban attacked four Afghan provinces and 32 security officials killed. The latest Taliban attacks came in the northern provinces of Kunduz, Baghlan, Takhar, and Badghis in the west. Both sides in Afghanistan’s 17-year war have kept up attacks this winter, with the Taliban inflicting a heavy toll on government forces, and the U.S. military and their government allies killing Taliban field commanders with air strikes. Peace efforts were made with Taliban but didn’t work.

The officials said that the Taliban also suffered casualties. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attacks.</s>A series of Taliban attacks in western and northern Afghanistan has killed 21 members of the country's security forces, Afghan officials say.

Jamshed Shahabi, spokesperson for the governor in western Badghis province, said the fighters overran outposts there, killing six policemen on Wednesday.

Council member Shamsul Haq Baeakzai in northern Baghlan province said seven members of the local police force were killed there on the same day.

In northern Takhar province, council member Ruhollah Raufi said eight policemen were shot.

The Taliban also attacked security checkpoints in Kunduz province, killing soldiers and police.

The attacks wounded dozens of other members of the security forces. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for these attacks.

The Taliban fighters have carried out near-daily attacks on Afghan troops, inflicting heavy losses. In response, the government in Kabul no longer releases official casualty figures.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in November that 28,589 Afghan security personnel, both police and army, had been killed in fighting since 2015.

Meanwhile, Pakistani and Afghan officials are meeting in Islamabad to discuss Taliban peace negotiations.

The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has also been trying to restart a peace process with the Taliban. He is on his fourth trip to the region since being appointed in September. He will visit India, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Russia and Iran have all been involved in engaging with the Taliban in recent months either with the US or in parallel processes.

Several senior Taliban leaders are in Doha, Qatar. There were reports on Wednesday that talks in Doha between the Taliban and the US were cancelled over "agenda differences".

However, the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, John Bass, tweeted: "Reports of US-Taliban talks Wednesday inaccurate. Taliban should talk to fellow Afghans as much as they talk to media."

The Taliban has repeatedly refused to meet the Afghan government. In December the Taliban held meetings with Iranian officials and in November attended a meeting in Moscow where a non-governmental Afghan delegation was present.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on a visit to India that Iran has had intelligence contacts with the Taliban because it needed to secure border areas controlled by the Taliban on the Afghan side.

"I think it would be impossible to have a future Afghanistan without any role for the Taliban," Zarif, who is in New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders, told NDTV in an interview. "But we also believe that the Taliban should not have a dominant role in Afghanistan."</s>The Taliban must have a role in Afghanistan in future, Iran's foreign minister said on January 9, but added that the hardline Islamist group should not have a dominant role.

Efforts for a negotiated settlement of the 18-year war in Afghanistan have gathered pace in recent weeks, even as reports that US President Donald Trump plans to withdraw thousands of US troops have triggered uncertainty in Kabul.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has held three rounds of talks with the Taliban, but on January 8, the militants cancelled a fourth round, which had been due in Qatar this week.

The militants said they called off the talks because of an "agenda disagreement", especially over the involvement of officials from the Western-backed Afghan government as well as a possible ceasefire.

Largely Shi'ite Muslim Iran has long been wary of the Sunni Muslim Taliban.

But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on a visit to India that Iran has had intelligence contacts with the Taliban because it needed to secure border areas controlled by the Taliban on the Afghan side.

"I think it would be impossible to have a future Afghanistan without any role for the Taliban," Zarif, who is in New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders, told NDTV in an interview.

"But we also believe that the Taliban should not have a dominant role in Afghanistan."

The Taliban, who are fighting to oust all foreign forces and defeat the government, want to re-impose strict Islamic law in Afghanistan after their 2001 ouster by US-led troops.

Zarif said it was up to Afghans to decide what role the Taliban should have but Afghanistan's neighbours would not want them to be in overall control.

"Nobody in the region believes that a Taliban dominated Afghanistan is in the security interests of the region. I believe that is almost a consensus."

A Taliban source speaking about the cancelled talks told Reuters that US officials had insisted that the Taliban should meet Afghan officials in Qatar and said "both sides were in disagreement over declaring a ceasefire in 2019".

The Taliban have rejected repeated requests from regional powers to allow Afghan officials to take part in the talks, insisting that the United States is their main adversary.</s>Even though India’s official policy has always been “No engagement with the Taliban”, the Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat has advocated talks with Taliban with no preconditions.

Stability in Afghanistan is “in our interest, in region’s interest and it’s in Pakistan’s interest. We all want stability,” said the army chief at the 4th Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi.

Countries including the US, Russia, Iran and Pakistan have been talking with Taliban at some level and have been acknowledging the same.

On why there should be talks with Taliban with no pre- conditions the army chief pointed out that “When you talk to terrorists or any organisation of that kind, you have to talk without precondition. There cannot be precondition attached to it as it gives the notion that one or the other side is talking from the position of victory.”

The Army Chief’s comments assumes significance as it coincided with the visit of the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is in New Delhi on his first visit after taking over the post.

Reportedly, while announcing his India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China visit, the US State Department had said, “During his last trip in December, Special Representative Khalilzad reiterated that the only solution to the conflict is for all parties to sit together and reach an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan with mutual respect and acceptance.”

According to sources, New Delhi’s policy has always supported Afghan peace should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, and Afghan-controlled and with the participation of the government of Afghanistan.

It may be recalled, India had, however, participated last year in the Moscow talks on Afghanistan, in which the Taliban also took part. India participated at a non-official level, sending two former diplomats — Amar Sinha, India’s former envoy to Afghanistan, and TCA Raghavan. Iran too had a dialogue with the Taliban in Moscow last year and their first round of talks took place in Tehran last week.

Though Taliban is a big security threat to Iran, Tehran has offered its offices to New Delhi in case for having talks with Taliban.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj met with her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Wednesday, who during the 40 minute discussions briefed her about Tehran’s talks with the Taliban.</s>Despite earlier claims this year by the Afghan Taliban that talks for a peace deal to end the protracted conflict were “on track,” the militant group abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting with U.S. officials in Qatar this week over an apparent “agenda disagreement.”

The points of contention appear to me about much than just talking points, however. The Taliban doesn't want representatives of the existing Afghan government “puppets” to be there, and prefer to speak directly to U.S officials. But there's frustration as well with the U.S, which would free only 3,000 of the 25,000 Taliban prisoners the group wants released.

The U.S. has a different position. “Taliban should talk to fellow Afghans as much as they talk to the media,” the American ambassador to Kabul, John Bass, tweeted in response to the cancelation.

U.S policy and intelligence analysts were mostly “not surprised” by the abrupt rebuff by Taliban brass as part of their negotiation strategy.

“This is to be expected. The Taliban will try to drive a hard bargain, given the battlespace realities, and the fact that the Trump administration’s need for a deal this year. I suspect backchannel communications will lead to a resumption of the public level talks,” noted Kamran Bokhari, a specialist on the geopolitics of the Middle East with the University of Ottawa's Professional Development Institute. “Cancelation of meetings are a part and parcel of the bargaining process.”

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Bokhari cautioned the talks, while heavily supported by both the State Department and Afghan leaders, may not “produce an outcome that is in the U.S. interest.” The two days of discussions, slated to start Wednesday, were constitute the fourth round of talks with the U.S Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad. The last round was held in Abu Dhabi in mid-December, and also attended by officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the hosting United Arab Emirates.

Khalizad has embarked on a two-week diplomatic tour intended to further promote and develop the talks, and is slated to visit Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, and India.

A Taliban office was first established in Qatar’s capital Doha in 2013 at the request of the United States to facilitate the talks. But the office was shuttered after the group violated terms of the agreement by showcasing the same flag the group used during its rule in Afghanistan.

The Taliban calls U.S involvement in the country – now the longest-running war in U.S history – as an “illegitimate occupation” by foreign forces. And despite the hardline outfit’s continued disavowal of the Afghan government, and the refusal to have them join negotiations, some experts insist it's only in their best interest.

While much of the media narrative has centered around the notion the Taliban controls more of Afghanistan than the government amid a “stalemate” war, the areas under militant control are mostly rural, and not major transport hubs or major cities.

“The Taliban realizes this is in their best interest to talk. But talks with an adversary like this are a process, not an event. It could take a very long time and there will be highs and lows,” noted Luke Coffey, a policy expert with The Heritage Foundation. “In the end, it might not succeed. But the right thing to do is try.”</s>KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said on Wednesday that the Taliban’s refusal to involve the government in peace talks means the end to a conflict that has lasted 17 years can only remain a dream.

Abdullah’s remarks came a day after the Taliban called off a fourth round of talks with U.S. officials in Qatar, due to start this week, over disagreements about the involvement of Afghan officials, a possible ceasefire and prisoner exchange.

Efforts for a negotiated settlement have gathered pace in recent weeks, even as reports that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops triggered uncertainty.

The United States is pressing Taliban leaders to sit down with Afghan government officials but the Taliban see the United States as the main power and dismiss the Kabul administration as a puppet.

“In any peace deal in which the rights of our citizens, that have been gained with a lot of sacrifices, are not respected, the deal is a dream and will never happen,” Abdullah told gathering in Kabul, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the constitution.

“Today the talk about the withdrawal of foreign forces is an excuse for continuation of war and gaining more opportunities.”

A Taliban leader told Reuters that the talks, which would have been the fourth round with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, would have focused on a U.S. withdrawal, prisoner exchange and the lifting of a ban on movement of Taliban leaders.

Taliban sources said that they had demanded that U.S. authorities release 25,000 prisoners and that they would free 3,000, but that U.S. officials were not keen to discuss the exchange.

The war in Afghanistan is America’s longest overseas military intervention. It has cost Washington nearly $1 trillion and killed tens of thousands of people.

Abdullah, who shares power with President Ashraf Ghani after a U.S.-brokered political deal in 2014 that led to formation of a coalition government, said the Taliban have not changed since their austere regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

“We haven’t seen any change in the Taliban so far and that country that supports them, has not unfortunately changed its policies toward us either,” said Abdullah, referring to neighbouring Pakistan which Kabul accuses of harbouring Taliban leaders.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it is encouraging the Taliban to talk directly with the Afghan government.

A senior Afghan government official said the talks also would have involved discussion about the formation of an interim administration known as the “peace government” after U.S. forces announce a withdrawal and the Taliban accept a ceasefire.

The peace government would bring all warring parties under one administration until the Taliban are fully integrated and election are held.

But Ghani has strongly opposed any interim government.

Abdullah called on Afghans to support the current administration instead.

“They say they are not the Taliban of the past and they have learnt lessons and are in favour of an inclusive government, but they instead go and talk to some individuals and call them elders which is against our national interest,” Abdullah said, referring to political figures.

“They do this to show that the government is either weak or does not exist,” he added.

The impasse over the talks comes as Afghanistan prepares to hold presidential elections in July with many Afghans believing the vote may be cancelled if a peace deal is reached with the Taliban.

Presidential candidates, including Ghani who seeks a second five-year term, have not officially announced they are running as coalition-building among leaders of various ethnic groups debated whom to support.

The United States sent troops to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. At its peak the U.S. deployment involved more than 100,000 troops, but Washington withdrew most in 2014 and now has around 14,000 troops in the country as part of a NATO-led mission aiding Afghan security forces and hunting militants.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on a visit to India on Wednesday that the Taliban must have a role in Afghanistan in future, but not a dominant role.</s>As concerns grow in India about a resurgent Taliban and the possibility of the terror group coming to power in Afghanistan, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif has told NDTV that it's impossible to have a future Afghan government without a role for the Taliban, though it should not have a dominant role.

Iran started formal talks with the Taliban for the very first time just last week. Mr Zarif also said extremism was an existential threat for Pakistan.

"I think it would be impossible to have a future Afghanistan without any role for the Taliban. But we also believe that the Taliban do not have - should not have a dominant role in Afghanistan. Of course at the end of the day that is the decision that the Afghans need to make," Mr Zarif told NDTV.

When asked about Pakistan's continued support to terror groups in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan was trying to play a "positive role".

"We believe that Pakistani position on Afghanistan is evolving and we believe that Pakistan now is trying to play a positive role in getting a peace process underway in Afghanistan. I understand that the Pakistanis also do not wish to see an Afghanistan dominated by extremists groups... but for Pakistan it is an existential threat. Extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan is an existential threat for Pakistan," Mr Zarif said.

India is worried about instability in Afghanistan, particularly after US President Donald Trump announced he would withdraw 7,000 US troops from there. However, Iran believes the presence of US troops did "nothing to help on the security and stability of Afghanistan".

Mr Zarif went on to say "we cannot be prisoners of the past". "We disagreed with Pakistan in the 90s when they created the Taliban or helped create the Taliban. We were the first to offer victims to suffer in the hands of the Taliban - 11 of my colleagues were murdered by the Taliban, but we cannot be prisoners of the past. We need to work for a better future and Iran is ready to work with Pakistan in order to realise what the Pakistani leaders have been telling us that they believe fighting extremists groups is in their national security interest and we believe analytically, that that is the case."

Asked about the US sanctions which have sharply brought down India's oil imports from Iran, Mr Zarif said, "We have been able to engage with each other even under more difficult circumstances and I am confident that Iran and India will find - particularly our private sector - will find possibilities to evade this illegal measures. Let's remind ourselves that these are illegal measures. We are not trying to evade law; we are trying to evade lawlessness, we are trying to evade bullying."</s>KABUL, Afghanistan — Officials say a wave of Taliban attacks in western and northern Afghanistan the previous day has killed 21 members of the country's security forces.

Jamshed Shahabi, spokesman for the governor in western Badghis province, says the insurgents overran outposts there, killing six policemen.

Council member Shamsul Haq Baeakzai in northern Baghlan province says seven members of the local police force were killed there, also on Wednesday.

And in northern Takhar province, council member Ruhollah Raufi says eight policemen were gunned down.

The attacks left another 23 members of the security forces wounded. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for all the attacks.

The insurgents carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan troops, inflicting heavy loses. In response, the government in Kabul no longer releases official casualty figures.
32 people were killed by the Taliban while the Taliban lost 25 of their members in shooting attacks across Afghanistan (RadioLiberty)