UNITED NATIONS, 23 September 2007 — The United Nations supports peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taleban and is prepared to help mediate, the top UN envoy said Friday ahead of a high-level meeting that will include the US and Iran.
Tom Koenigs of Germany said negotiations to support the Afghan government will not produce “a quick result” but are essential. “We from the United Nations will certainly support peace talks because the insurgency cannot be won over by military means only,” he said. “We have to keep the door open for negotiations.”
The United Nations does not expect the “hard core” of the Taleban to negotiate, “but there are certainly tribes who are alienated, maybe even by misgovernance, who can be brought back,” Koenigs told a news conference. He said the UN could mediate, for instance, between tribes that are fighting for the government and tribes that are fighting for the Taleban. “Where we can negotiate or mediate, we will do (it) and in some cases we have some success,” he said.
Meanwhile, attacks on police checkpoints in northern Afghanistan killed two police officers, and a clash between the Afghan army and Taleban militants in the south killed six militants, officials said yesterday. Afghan soldiers killed the six militant fighters — including two Taleban commanders — during an operation in Wardak province on Friday, the Defense Ministry said.
In the north, a group of 10 militants attacked a police checkpoint near Kunduz city, killing one policeman, while militants fired rockets at another checkpoint, killing a second policeman and wounding two, said Gen. Noor Afgha Omerkhail, the deputy provincial police chief.
