Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Recent Surge in Violence Blow to Afghan Peace, Experts Warn

Roshan Noorzai

   A string of violence against civilian targets in Afghanistan this month
   has set off a debate over the fate of the U.S.-brokered peace deal,
   with some experts warning that brutal onslaughts such as the Kabul
   maternity ward attack put the fragile peace process at risk.

   The May 12 gunman assault on Dasht-e-Barchi maternity ward in Kabul has
   left at least 24 people dead, including 16 mothers. Appalled by the
   unprecedented attack, the Afghan government vowed to avenge the deaths
   by changing its posture from defensive into offensive against the
   Taliban.

   Scott Worden, the director of Afghanistan and Central Asia programs at
   the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, told VOA that the
   maternity ward attack means the Afghan government will have a difficult
   time to make "some sort of concessions to an insurgent group while such
   atrocities are happening."

   The maternity hospital incident, charged Worden, fits the patterns of
   an IS attack. However, "it is true that the Taliban insurgency creates
   opportunities and space for groups like IS to operate."

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