KABUL, Afghanistan — Within hours of opening an office for peace talks in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan launched a deadly ambush on an American convoy, and the Afghan government separately broke off talks on military cooperation with the United States.
It was at best a rocky prelude to peace talks with the Taliban, which have collapsed repeatedly in the past. American officials have long pushed for such talks, believing them crucial to stabilizing Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Western forces next year.
Earlier on Tuesday, the American military had formally handed over control of security in all of Afghanistan to Afghan forces, a development that was followed hours later with the three sides announcing that peace talks would begin at the new Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar.
The Afghan government did not specify why it broke off talks on military cooperation with the Americans. A statement by President Hamid Karzai said only, "In view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process, the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently under way in Kabul between Afghan and U.S. delegations on the bilateral security agreement."
The Taliban formally opened their Qatar office Tuesday evening, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, after more than a year of efforts to restart peace talks.
In addition to the dispute with the Americans, Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives had strikingly different interpretations about what the new Taliban office was for.
Afghan officials said it was only an "address" where peace talks could begin. The Taliban described it in a statement as a full-blown political office where they would meet with representatives of the international community, interact with the press, "improve relations with countries around the world" and, almost as an afterthought, meet Afghan officials — "if there is a need." That sounded close to describing the office as an embassy rather than a venue for peace talks.
Either way, the Taliban attack on the Americans was a signal that despite the move toward peace talks, the insurgents were not letting up their military activities. The attack Tuesday night took place in the village of Shaka, just outside the sprawling Bagram air base, when Taliban insurgents ambushed an American military patrol, firing a rocket at an armored vehicle, according to Roshna Khalid, a spokesman for the governor of Parwan Province, where the base is located. She said the attack took place just over a mile outside the perimeter of the base, which is about an hour's drive north of Kabul, the capital..
The international military coalition issued a statement confirming only that four coalition soldiers had been killed in an "indirect fire" attack in eastern Afghanistan, but in line with normal policy did not release the nationalities of the victims. The Bagram base is largely staffed by Americans, and is the largest base in the country with more than 20,000 military and civilian employees.
And in the eastern city of Jalalabad, about 3 a.m. Wednesday, Afghan police units surrounded a house believed to be harboring Taliban insurgents and demanded they surrender. They refused, and in the ensuing firefight four insurgents were killed and two wounded; two police officers were wounded as well, according to Afghan police officials.
If the peace talks do go forward, they will be a significant step in peace efforts that have been locked in an impasse for nearly 18 months, after the Taliban walked out and accused the United States of negotiating in bad faith.
But the Taliban may have other goals in moving ahead with the talks. Their language made clear that they sought to be dealt with as a legitimate political force with a long-term role to play beyond the insurgency. In that sense, in addition to aiding in talks, the actual opening of their office in Qatar — nearly a year and a half after initial plans to open it were announced and then soon after suspended — could be seen as a signal that the Taliban's ultimate aim is recognition as an alternative to the Western-backed government of President Karzai.
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