Intra-Afghan peace talks

WITH the last hitch removed, the elusive intra-Afghan dialogue is now likely to take place next week to discuss the country’s political future that could bring an end to the two-decade-long American war in Afghanistan. It will be the most critical phase of the Afghan peace process with the representatives of the Kabul government for the first time sitting face to face with the Taliban leadership. President Ashraf Ghani last week passed an order to release the remaining batch of 400 Afghan Taliban prisoners thus clearing the final hurdle for the start of the negotiations between the two sides. The Feb 29 peace accord between the Taliban and the United States had pledged to release 5,000...