Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to resign within hours amid reports that the Taliban is interested in a peaceful transition of power in the country and is already celebrating victory. But the big question is: what might this “success” mean for Afghanistan?
The international community “might want to keep the Taliban on board rather than treat it as a pariah” if the terrorist group seizes power in Afghanistan, says Dr Amalendu Misra, senior lecturer in Politics, Philosophy, and Religion at Lancaster University in the UK.
The capital Kabul remains the last major Afghan city under the government's control, with the Taliban already capturing all of Afghanistan's major cities and border crossings. The insurgents are currently in talks with the authorities on a peaceful transition of power in the country.
The analyst pointed to the terrorist group being involved in several rounds of peace talks with Washington and other players in the Doha talks that ended with a peace deal between the Taliban and the US in early 2020. The agreement stipulated the US withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for a number of concessions from the militants.
The political scientist argued that given Afghanistan's strategic geography and supposed mineral wealth, “the [Taliban] regime would have no problem establishing links with other neighbouring powers such as China and Pakistan”.
He went on to assert that “there…
