KABUL: The US military on Monday blamed the Taliban for a spate of assassinations of prominent Afghans, the first time Washington has directly accused the insurgent group of the killings.

The charge comes as the Afghan government and Taliban are due on Tuesday to resume peace talks in Qatar, as both sides seek an end to the long-running conflict.

“The Taliban’s campaign of unclaimed attacks and targeted killings of government officials, civil society leaders & journalists must... cease for peace to succeed,” Colonel Sonny Leggett, spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, said on Twitter.

The deputy governor of Kabul province, five journalists, and a prominent election activist have been among those assassinated since November.

Afghan officials blame the Taliban for the killings, but the hardline group has denied the charge, while the militant Islamic State group says its fighters were responsible for some of them.

Leggett’s statement comes as the Taliban accused US forces of carrying out air strikes against insurgents in Kandahar, Nangarhar and Helmand provinces in recent days.

The Taliban said the strikes violated an agreement signed in February that paved the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces by May 2021.

Leggett said the US would continue to defend Afghan forces against Taliban attacks.

Rivals to resume talks

The State Department said that Zalmay Khalilzad, the veteran US diplomat who negotiated last year’s agreement, was returning to Qatar where he would meet separately with the Taliban and Afghan government teams.

Khalilzad will seek “an immediate, significant reduction in violence and ceasefire and an agreement on a political roadmap and power-sharing as soon as possible,” the State Department said.

Khalilzad will also travel to Kabul, Pakistan and Turkmenistan as he seeks to ensure broad international support for the peace process.Afghan government representatives and Taliban officials are due to resume peace talks in Qatar after a three-week break, officials said on Monday, although battlefield clashes and targeted killings risk undermining efforts to end the war.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2021