Negotiations between Taliban and Afghan Government Collapse

The deadline for negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government has passed without yielding any results at 4:30 p.m. (Korean time) on July 30. The two sides said that negotiations collapsed, reaching a major turning point in the hostage crisis.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a self-described Taliban spokesperson, had a phone conversation with the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a local news agency. He said, “We didn’t have any contact with the government. There`s nothing to be changed, so we’ll either kill some or all of the hostages today.”

A Taliban commander who is holding the hostages also commented, “We failed to reach an agreement in the negotiation. We will kill the hostages.”

Mirajudin Patan, the governor of Ghazni Province, asked the Taliban to give him two more days but was refused.

Waheedullah Mujadedi, the head of the Afghan delegation, told AIP, “We had negotiated with the Taliban till 2:00 a.m. (local time) but made little progress. I think we can resume the talks today."

However, Mahmud Ghailani, a lawmaker (from Ghazni) and a member of the delegation, told the Agence France-Presse (AFP), “All negotiations have stopped. There’s little possibility of success.”

The AFP quoted an Afghan official who requested anonymity that in case of failed negotiations, the government could use force to rescue the hostages.

But one Korean official said, “We must deal with this issue through peaceful contact and negotiations. We have never considered resorting to force.”

ecolee@donga.com triplets@donga.com