Afghan Security Adviser Says Country Can Ensure Peace But Needs Financial Support

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2021) Afghan forces are capable of ensuring security in the region on their own, but lack financial resources to do so effectively, Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan's national security adviser, said on Tuesday following last week's peace talks with Taliban in Doha and a meeting in Moscow.

"I am confident that the Afghan security forces can hold on their own. I have said this before that our problem is not in capability any more. It is a financial problem ... We will require some technical help and we require some financial support," Mohib said in a conversation with Hudson Institute's director for South and Central Asia Husain Haqqani.

According to Mohib, despite the ongoing peace talks, the Taliban have escalated violence, marking what the diplomat said was "the bloodiest" winter in the recent history of the conflict.

Afghanistan's security adviser urged the new US administration to support the country's security forces financially for a longer period after withdrawing the troops.

The interview, initiated by the Hudson Institute, focused on the current status of the intra-Afghan peace talks and their future prospects.

Last year, Washington agreed with the Taliban to withdraw troops by May 1 and negotiated the start of the Afghan peace process. The talks between Kabul and the Taliban movement began in September 2020 in Doha.

After the Doha peace talks stalled last week over government accusations that the insurgents failed to stop violence, a new format was launched in Moscow. On March 18, the so-called extended troika, consisting of Russia, China, the US and Pakistan aside from Afghan authorities and the Taliban, met to reinvigorate the process. The meeting resulted in a joint statement which urged both sides to reduce violence and engage in discussion.

The next round of the peace negotiations is set to tale place in Turkey in April.