Afghan govt: We will enter peace talks with ‘strength’

KABUL, Afghanistan

The Afghan government will soon enter peace talks with the Taliban from a position of strength, a spokesman for the presidency said on Wednesday.

The government will represent and protect democratic principles in the proposed peace talks, Sediq Sediqqi, the presidential spokesman, told a news conference in the capital Kabul.

“We would enter [peace] talks from a national position of strength and take this process forward, keeping in mind the national interests of the people of Afghanistan,” he said.

Escalating violence has continued to mar Afghanistan amid the ongoing ninth marathon round of peace talks between the U.S. and Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s Qatar office spokesman, said in a tweet on Wednesday that efforts will be made to resolve final points of a peace accord with the U.S. “soon.”

The Taliban have been holding peace talks with the U.S. for nearly a year but refuse to recognize or negotiate with the Afghan government.

Last Friday, rumors of the establishment of an interim government in Kabul overshadowed the first two days of talks in Doha. Both the U.S. and Taliban denied discussing an interim government weeks ahead of the key presidential elections slated for Sept. 28.

The Afghan Interior Ministry on Wednesday announced the deployment of nearly 100,000 armed forces for the security of the presidential polls.

The Taliban have warned people against taking part in these polls.