32 TheEconomistNovember 21st 2020
1T
o reach thefront line in Afghanistan’s
civil war, you do not need to go far from
the capital, Kabul. At a police outpost in
Wardak province, about 20km outside the
city on the main highway leading south,
the Taliban’s encroachment is evident. The
outpost is little more than a ring of con-
crete blast walls perched on a hill overlook-
ing the road. Around a dozen men, mostly
dressed not in fatigues but in shalwar ka-
meez and trainers, stand around. Some
hold guns; most do not. A few look like
teenagers. The 25-year-old in charge, Ome-
dullah Khanjar, who commands six out-
posts along the highway, explains that, by
day, things are mostly quiet. But at night,
he says, the local Taliban shoot at the post
from a nearby ridge. Unlike the cops, they
have night-vision goggles and laser sights.
Not everything goes the insurgents’
way, says Mr Khanjar. Recently they tried to
blow up another outpost along the road,
but the police got wind of the plan in ad-vance. They retreated and then ambushed
the fighters. On his phone, Mr Khanjar
shows your correspondent a picture of the
unexploded bomb and the phone the Tali-
ban would have used to detonate it. But
such victories are rare. The local Taliban
live in the villages nearby, which they run
as fiefs, unmolested by the troops. Mr
Khanjar complains that the locals protect
them, but he understands why. “There is so
much unemployment,” he says. “The gov-
ernment here provides no opportunities.”In September negotiations started in
Doha, the capital of Qatar, between the Tali-
ban’s political leadership, envoys from the
Afghan government and leaders of civil
society. The talks have been years in the
making. They followed the conclusion in
February of an agreement between the Un-
ited States and the Taliban, under which
America was to withdraw its forces from
Afghanistan provided the Taliban cut all
ties with international terrorists and start-
ed a sincere dialogue with the government
on a ceasefire and a political settlement.
The Afghan government did its part by re-
leasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
The sight of bearded, turbaned insur-
gents at a negotiating table sparked hope
that 40 years of conflict might be coming to
an end. But progress has been slow. The
two sides are still arguing over the agenda
and format of the talks. Big questions, such
as what form of government Afghanistan
should have, have not yet been broached.
Meanwhile, the number of American
soldiers has fallen by more than half over
the past year, from over 9,000 to around
4,500 now. Although the agreement fore-
saw a complete withdrawal only by June of
next year, and only if the Taliban kept its
side of the bargain, President Donald
Trump is in a hurry. In October he said he
wanted all American troops “home by
Christmas”. This week the Pentagon an-AfghanistanGuns and poses
HERAT AND KABUL
As American forces leave, the Taliban seem keener on fighting than talkingAsia
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