Iran Press/Asia: Just before the top American negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the Taliban and Americans were on 'the threshold of an agreement,' the Taliban attacked poorly defended provincial capitals and forced the Afghan government to send in commandos to keep the cities from being overrun.
The interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday that 20 Afghan security force members and five civilians were killed, and at least 85 civilians were injured in Kunduz city during clashes with the Taliban fighters, the New York Times reported.
The Taliban attack on Sunday targeted Pul-i-Kumri, the capital of Baghlan Province in northern Afghanistan, about 145 miles north of Kabul.
In a separate incident, a roadside bomb in Chamtaal district in northern Balkh province on Sunday killed at least eight people, including women and children travelling in a car, officials said.
On Saturday, the militants launched an offensive against a neighboring provincial capital, Kunduz, killing the top police spokesman and wounding the police chief, local officials said.
With talks in Doha close to wrapping up, the latest fighting underlined the Taliban’s apparent determination to go into any deal from a position of strength on the battlefield.
The agreement would not on its own end the fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces, but would allow the start of so-called “intra-Afghan” peace talks, which are expected to be held in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
However, it was not clear whether the Taliban would agree to talk directly with the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani, which they consider an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime.
Some Taliban officials have said they would only agree to talk to Afghan officials in a private capacity, not as representatives of the state, and they remain opposed to presidential elections scheduled for September 28.
About 14,000 US troops and some 17,000 troops from 39 NATO allies and partner countries are in Afghanistan in a non-combative role.
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US,Taliban in search for solution in Doha
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