The Afghan government has offered the Taliban a share in power so long as the rising violence in the country comes to a halt.
The Afghan government made this offer to Taliban today when they captured 10th capital city (Ghazni) in Afghanistan. Since last Friday, it is the 10th provincial capital that Taliban have captured by force.
The power-sharing proposal was delivered through Qatar, the host of Afghan peace talks, Al-Jazeera reported this development today quoting sources.
Meanwhile, fighting is raging in Lashkar Gah, one of Afghanistan’s largest cities in the Taliban heartland of Helmand province.
The Lashkar Gah regional police headquarters were taken by the armed group, with some police officers surrendering to the fighters and others retreating to the nearby governor’s office still held by government forces.
Taliban fighters capture the city of Ghazni, the 10th provincial capital they have seized in several days.
A senior security official tells Reuters news agency the Taliban had captured Ghazni, which is on the highway between Kabul and the second city of Kandahar, and had occupied all of its government agency headquarters after heavy clashes.
“All local government officials, including the provincial governor, have been evacuated towards Kabul,” says the official who declined to be identified.
Denmark to evacuate current, former local employees
Denmark has agreed to evacuate current and former employees of the Danish embassy or Danish armed forces in Afghanistan due to the worsening security situation, the government says.
Denmark will grant people who have been employed in the previous two years and their close relatives temporary residence permits for two years, the government says.
“The security situation in Afghanistan is serious. The Taliban are gaining ground and developments are accelerating faster than many had feared,” the government says in a statement.
“We have a common responsibility to help the Afghans who are now threatened due to their connection to and contribution to Denmark’s engagement in Afghanistan,” it said.
Last day of Afghanistan talks begins in Doha
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Doha, says the third and last day of multination talks on Afghanistan have started in the Qatari capital.
“The delegations we have not yet seen appear here today at the main venue for these talks are the delegations for the Afghan government and the Taliban,” he says.
“The sense that we are getting from all the diplomats is that they are extremely concerned about what’s been going on in Afghanistan and they are trying to come up with some type of joint plan in order to get the situation under control.”
The talks include diplomats and envoys from the US, the UK, the EU, China, Pakistan and Uzbekistan along with the UN.
