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Presidential Rift, Coronavirus Eclipse Afghan Peace Deal

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - A lingering dispute over Afghanistan's
   presidential election and an outbreak of coronavirus in the country
   appear to have complicated further an already troubled effort the
   United States is making to help find a negotiated end to nearly 19
   years of war.

   Afghan officials found five new cases of coronavirus Sunday, increasing
   the national tally of confirmed cases to at least 16. There are fears
   the number is likely to grow in the wake of increased number of Afghan
   pilgrims and refugees returning from neighboring Iran, one of the
   worst-hit by the global pandemic.

   After having negotiated and signed a landmark peace-building deal with
   the Taliban in Qatar two weeks ago, U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay
   Khalilzad flew to Kabul to help in arranging an inclusive Afghan team
   to engage in negotiations with the insurgent group to move the process
   forward.

   Instead, Khalilzad has since been mostly busy mediating the political
   dispute between incumbent Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah,
   as both claim to have won the September 28th presidential election and
   held competing inaugurations last Monday.

   The U.S. envoy has repeatedly met with both the presidential claimants
   but there appears to be no progress toward ending the political
   impasse.

   NATO senior civilian representative to the country Nick Kay in a video
   message released via Twitter on Saturday called on Afghan leaders to
   urgently find a compromise and solve their political differences.

   "As the coronavirus sweeps the world causing public health crisis and
   potential economic crisis'¦it is strange that the political leadership
   cannot find a way to resolve their differences and unite the country
   both in the interests of public health but also peace," Kay said.

   Violence continues

   Meanwhile, Afghan and Taliban officials have accused each other of
   launching fresh battlefield attacks in parts of the country, which adds
   to problems facing the implementation of the U.S.-Taliban agreement.

   Officials in southern Kandahar province told VOA that a suspected
   Taliban infiltrator killed at least seven Afghan security forces early
   Sunday, the latest in a series of insider attacks that have killed
   thousands of government security personnel over the years.

   The Taliban claims its loyalists, who have infiltrated Afghan forces,
   carry out these attacks before returning to insurgent ranks.

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