Afghan violence spikes despite peace talks

Violence in Afghanistan jumped by half over late summer, even as the government and its Taliban foes sat down for long-awaited peace talks, an American government watchdog said.

Fighting raged across the country despite lulls from two brief ceasefires as the insurgent movement continued to put military pressure on Ashraf Ghani’s government.

The assessment that a troop withdrawal agreement with America and the opening of talks with the Kabul government had only seen more bloodshed came as those discussions in Doha remained deadlocked.

Attacks against Afghan forces and civilians were 50 percent higher in the three months to the end of September when compared to the previous quarter, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said.

"Overall enemy-initiated attacks this quarter were also characterized as ‘above seasonal norms," SIGAR’s quarterly report to the US Congress added.

The watchdog which oversees the billions spent by America in Afghanistan reported 2,561 civilian casualties this quarter including 876 deaths, up 43 percent from the April to June period.

Afghanistan has this week been in mourning after at least 22 students were shot dead at the nation’s prestigious Kabul University, in an attack claimed by Islamic State group.

Gunmen killed many members  of a senior public policy class when they opened fire in classrooms.

Amrullah Saleh, vice president, has rejected the Taliban’s denial of involvement, saying he had “smoking gun style hard evidence” the insurgents were responsible.

American officials have said the Taliban’s failure to cut violence is at odds with their February pact to withdraw US troops in return for assurances the insurgents would not let the country become a haven for al-Qaeda.

That deal made no public mention of a cut in violence, but is understood to have featured a secret annexe outlining how attacks should fall.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy who negotiated the deal, has repeatedly warned that "continued high levels of violence can threaten the peace process and the agreement and the core understanding that there is no military solution" to the Afghan conflict.

Yet analysts believe the Taliban believe violence remains their strongest bargaining chip and are reluctant to lose momentum after years of sacrifices.

Two months after negotiating teams from the Taliban and Afghan government began talks in Doha, little has been achieved. An agenda and basic framework for discussions have still not been decided.