Peace process
A peace process is the set of political sociology, sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict.
Definitions
Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of ...
es have taken place during several phases of the
Afghanistan conflict
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
*Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...
, which has lasted since the 1978
Saur Revolution
The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
.
The
National Reconciliation Policy during the
Karmal and
Najibullah governments from the mid-1980s to 1992 had modest results.
A "victor's peace" in the
2001 Bonn Agreement followed the US invasion of Afghanistan.
During the
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...
presidency (2004–2014), local peace deals took place without high-level support,
weakly effective
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), or disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) are strategies used as a component of peace processes, and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacek ...
programs were organised,
and the
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) (Dari:کمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر افغانستان, ps, د افغانستان د بشري حقونو خپلواک کميسيون) is a national human rights institution that was ...
proposed an ''Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice'' for
transitional justice that was formally adopted by the Afghan government in 2005, to little practical effect.
During the
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in L ...
presidency,
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
movements in Afghanistan, including the
Tabassum movement
The Tabassum movement ( prs, جنبش تبسم, ) was a grassroots protest movement in Afghanistan that held several protests in Kabul and other Afghan cities in mid-November 2015, following the execution by an armed opposition group of nine-year- ...
in 2015, the
Enlightenment Movement during 2016–2017,
Uprising for Change in 2017, and the
People's Peace Movement in March 2018, were active
and a brief ceasefire between government forces and the Taliban was held during 16–18 June by both sides simultaneously.
The
US–Taliban deal
The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, commonly known as the US–Taliban deal or the Doha Agreement, was a peace agreement signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar, to bring an end to the 2001 ...
, resulting from negotiations starting in 2018 in Doha,
led to the
withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the collapse of the Afghan Army,
and the
August 2021 Fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
Violent resistance continued following the Taliban 2021 takeover. The
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American Federal government of the United States, federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individual ...
(USIP) argued that a peace process continued to be necessary.
On 5 September 2021,
Ahmad Massoud
Ahmad Massoud (Pashto/, ; born 1989) is an Afghan politician who is the founder and Leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. He is the eldest son of anti-Soviet military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was appointed as the CEO of Ma ...
of the
National Resistance Front of Afghanistan
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), also known as the Second Resistance, is a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The founder and p ...
involved in the
Republican insurgency in Afghanistan
The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing armed conflict between the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on one side, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanis ...
called for a mutual ceasefire between the insurgency and the Taliban.
Democratic Republic
During the government of the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
, the
National Reconciliation Policy was developed from the mid-1980s to 1992 by two successive Afghan leaders,
Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal (Farsi/Pashto: , born Sultan Hussein; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Afghanistan, serving in the post of General Secretary of the People's Democratic Part ...
and
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیبالله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...
, aiming to end the armed conflict with the Mujahideen and integrate the Mujahideen into a multi-party political process; to get the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
security forces to withdraw from Afghanistan; and to develop a new constitution.
Peace processes used to negotiate between government and Mujahideen included non-aggression or other peace agreements with local commanders, discussion of the proposed agreements at district level, and proposals such as
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), or disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) are strategies used as a component of peace processes, and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacek ...
of fighters into their local communities. Factors creating difficulties included Afghan distrust for Najibullah as a former head of the Afghan intelligence agency; support by regional and global powers for exiled opposition leaders; the time scale needed for peace and reconciliation processes. The
1988 Geneva Accords did not require political processes to link with these local peace arrangements; it was limited to withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.
1990s
Afghan and international
non-governmental organizations
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
(NGOs) were involved in peace processes, in connection with local peace councils and traditional ''jirga'' and ''shura'' meetings, starting in the 1990s. The NGOs claimed that these local peace processes were necessary as a grassroots complement to national level top-down processes.
Bonn agreement (2001)
The
2001 Bonn Agreement, signed during the
December 2001 Bonn Conference, was widely seen as a "victor's peace", since it excluded the Taliban
and was constrained by
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(US) military aims.
Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), or disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) are strategies used as a component of peace processes, and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacek ...
,
transitional justice and
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
were seen as low priorities in the 2001 Bonn peace process. The process included iterative steps for broadening inclusivity through a constitutional assembly and elections. The four Afghan groups who negotiated were the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
and three exile-based groups; one based in Rome and linked to former King of Afghanistan
Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
; one based in Cyprus and linked to Iran; and one mainly Pashtun group based in Peshawar. The main mediator of the agreement was
Lakhdar Brahimi
Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian pronunciation: ; ar, الأخضر الإبراهيمي; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was Mi ...
.
Two consequences of the Bonn Agreement were the Taliban insurgency and empowerment of warlords. The exclusion of the Taliban in the Bonn Agreement led to the
Taliban insurgency
{{Infobox military conflict
, partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict
, image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban o ...
by 2003. In 2006, Brahimi described the exclusion of the Taliban as "our original sin". The peace process also resulted in giving strong positions to warlords with track records of
war crimes and other serious human rights abuses. A common causal factor, according to Astri Suhrke, of both the Bonn Agreement itself and the Agreement's consequences were the political and military priorities of the United States. Suhrke argues that by 2018, international consensus was that peace processes based on
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
were more sustainable than processes that ended violence without being based on human rights.
Karzai presidency
Several peace processes took place during the presidency of
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...
(2004–2014), including local peace processes in Helmand province,
the emergence of grassroots
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
movements in the mid-2010s,
and the successive and weakly effective
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), or disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) are strategies used as a component of peace processes, and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacek ...
and ''Disbandment of illegal armed groups'' programs.
The
Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program started in 2010.
Transitional justice was not included in peace processes during the Karzai presidency.
AIHRC transitional justice plan
The
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) (Dari:کمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر افغانستان, ps, د افغانستان د بشري حقونو خپلواک کميسيون) is a national human rights institution that was ...
(AIHRC) carried out a survey of Afghans' experience of the war since 1978 and how they wished to see
transitional justice implemented. The AIHRC published the results, ''A Call for Justice'', in January 2005. With support from the President's Office,
UNAMA, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, AIHRC published its ''Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice'' for transitional justice. The Action Plan was formally adopted by the Afghan government in December 2005, and included as a benchmark in the ''Afghanistan Compact'' established in 2006. A five-member advisory panel for the Action Plan was created in late 2006. As of 2013, the Action Plan had had very little practical effects.
Local Helmand peace processes (2006, 2010)
Local peace processes in
Musa Qala
; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. Its popul ...
in 2006 and in
Sangin
Sangin ( ps, سنگين) is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It is located on in the valley of the Helmand River at altitude, to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as on ...
in 2010 took place between local governments and local armed groups aligned with the Taliban. The Musa Qala agreement included a 14-point written agreement. Factors that terminated the resulting peace deal included opposition from the national government and an
International Security Assistance Force
' ps, کمک او همکاري '
, allies = Afghanistan
, opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda
, commander1 =
, commander1_label = Commander
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, comman ...
(ISAF) killing of a local Taliban commander near the zone of the negotiated peace agreement.
In Upper Sangin Valley (USV), a peace agreement was negotiated in May 2010. It was not supported by the local British Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), and in August 2010 an unsuccessful drone strike aimed at a local commander led to failure of the agreement. A new peace agreement in USV was achieved in December 2010 and witnessed by US Marine Corps and PRT representatives. Factors in the failure of the second USV peace agreement included destabilisation by US forces and a lack of support by the national government.
Significant reductions in violence occurred while the Musa Qala and Upper Sangin Valley peace agreements were in place.
Afghan peace movement
In the mid-2010s,
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
movements in Afghanistan, which date back to the
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
movement
Khudai Khidmatgar
Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...
that in the 1930s opposed the British colonial government, resurged according to
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American Federal government of the United States, federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individual ...
researchers. Afghan peace groups started pressuring both the Afghan government and the Taliban for ceasefires and to implement other steps in the peace process. The
Tabassum movement
The Tabassum movement ( prs, جنبش تبسم, ) was a grassroots protest movement in Afghanistan that held several protests in Kabul and other Afghan cities in mid-November 2015, following the execution by an armed opposition group of nine-year- ...
arose in 2015, the
Enlightenment Movement during 2016–2017,
Uprising for Change in 2017, and the
People's Peace Movement started in March 2018.
The People's Peace Movement saw regional and global powers as a cause of continued war.
DDR, DIAG and APRP
;DDR
A program of
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR), or disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reintegration and resettlement (DDRRR) are strategies used as a component of peace processes, and is generally the strategy employed by all UN Peacek ...
(DDR) took place in Afghanistan from October 2003 to February 2005, with the aim of disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating the Mujahideen, referred to as the Afghan Militia Forces (AMF), into mainstream civil society. The DDR program was described as "the de facto peace process" by Afghan civil society groups meeting in Berlin in 2004, who also expressed scepticism about whether the DDR process would really occur. Japanese officials were responsible for coordinating the program. The program itself had been intended to start in May 2003, but was delayed by a dispute about the number of AMF forces coordinated by the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
(MOD). The MOD claimed to have 250,000 AMF members while the initial DDR plan was to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate 100,000 AMF members. The difference was attributed to
ghost soldiers
Ghost soldiers or ghost battalions refers to army troops whom names appear on military rolls, but who are not actually in military service, generally in order to divert part of the soldiers' salaries to an influential local entity such as army of ...
, who existed fictitiously for commanders to collect extra salaries. The MOD accepted, in principle, that ten percent of the demobilised AMF members would constitute the new Afghan armed forces.
The conversion of forces from the AMR to police forces and private militias (not covered by the DDR program) was a major factor weakening the effects of DDR.
The main success of DDR was the confiscation and storage of heavy weapons.
A major failure was that it didn't break command and control structures between mid-level commanders and their forces. After DDR finished in February 2005, 1496 illegal armed groups remained.
;DIAG
DDR was followed, from 2006 to March 2011, by a new program, ''Disbandment of illegal armed groups'' (DIAG). DIAG was controlled directly by Afghan officials in the ''Disarmament & Reintegration Committee'', headed by
Karim Khalili
Karim Khalili ( fa, کریم خلیلی) is an Afghan politician serving as leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat Islami Afghanistan party. Most recently he was Chief of the Afghan High Peace Council from 2017 until its dissolvement in 2019. He was selec ...
, with support from foreign officials. DIAG was generally seen as ineffective, mostly disarming small and less powerful armed groups rather than major ones. Armed groups frequently collected old weapons from ordinary civilians and gave these to the authorities instead of giving up their own modern weapons; this had the double effect of not genuinely disarming the militias, and of disarming ordinary citizens, making them easy targets for the militias.
In 2011, DIAG was integrated into the
Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP). According to the official statistics, 759 illegal armed groups had been disarmed while 737 illegal armed groups remained armed.
;APRP
The
Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) was a peace program created in 2010,
based on the recommendations of
Afghan Peace Jirga 2010 The Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the holding of a consultative grand council called the Afghanistan's National Consultative Peace Jirga (NCPJ) or shortly Peace Jirga in his inauguration speech on 19 November 2009, after winning elections ...
,
with the aim of strengthening administrative and security institutions for promoting peace and reintegration; developing the political conditions conducive to peace; and strengthening national, regional and global support for peace and stability. Conditions for Taliban participation included ending violence, breaking ties with international terrorist groups and accepting the
2004 Constitution of Afghanistan, including the constitution's protections for
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
and minorities. APRP aimed to negotiate with the Taliban in parallel with reintegrating lower level commanders and fighters.
The APRP concluded in March 2016.
The
Afghan High Peace Council
, native_name_a =
, native_name_r =
, type = Peace movement
, seal =
, seal_size =
, seal_caption =
, seal_alt =
, logo =
, logo_size ...
was created as a 70-member body (including nine women), together with a ''Joint Secretariat'', to oversee the implementation of APRP. The peace process was intended to included a stage of community level contact with Taliban and other insurgent groups; disarmament and demobilization; and ''National Community Recovery'', with the goals of sustainable development and social justice.
In practice, the APRP excluded political, tribal, religious leaders and informal local political institutions, and strengthened the exclusion of women, war victims and civil society groups. Women were excluded from both the design and implementation of APRP.
At the national level of APRP processes, meetings between the Joint Secretariat and women were judged by the numbers of meetings held, not for the actual impact of the meetings on the peace process. The Afghan government's negligence of women's significant participation in the peace process was seen as allowing Taliban to see women as irrelevant. Among the few women in the APRP design team, several received threats of violence and verbal or sexual abuse; some were injured after having been warned. During the
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in L ...
presidency, Ghani promised women to be fully included in the peace process, but that he would not "bother them until the right time". Out of 23 rounds of peace talks from 2005 to 2014, women were present in only two of the rounds.
The Joint Secretariat met with human rights activists and other civil society representatives after the APRP design had been set. The number of meetings was counted, and the impact of the meetings was not monitored.
The ''National Community Recovery'' phase of the APRP involved arming Afghanistan Local Police to protect local communities, with the risk of rearming formerly disarmed fighters in structures that were perceived as not being loyal to local communities or the national governmental system.
Those former fighters who remained unarmed feared for their own safety from revenge by "both sides".
Women partners of Taliban fighters were not given any rights in the reintegration process into local communities.
The ''Provincial Peace Committees'' (PPC) formally required a minimum of three women participants in each committee. Women members of the HPC and the PPCs participated in conferences and seminars for confidence-building.
As of 2013, the APRP contributed to giving an impression that impunity for war crimes under an amnesty was a necessary part of a peace process, rather than encouraging
transitional justice.
Ghani presidency
Several peace processes took place during the presidency of
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in L ...
(2014–2021), including termination of APRP,
transfer of authority from the
Afghan High Peace Council
, native_name_a =
, native_name_r =
, type = Peace movement
, seal =
, seal_size =
, seal_caption =
, seal_alt =
, logo =
, logo_size ...
to the
State Ministry for Peace,
the Gulbuddin agreement,
and the three-day government–Taliban ceasefire in June 2018 that accompanied the Helmand peace convoy of the
People's Peace Movement.
The
US–Taliban deal
The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, commonly known as the US–Taliban deal or the Doha Agreement, was a peace agreement signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar, to bring an end to the 2001 ...
, resulting from negotiations starting in 2018 in Doha,
led to the
withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the collapse of the Afghan Army,
and the
August 2021 Fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
APRP and State Ministry for Peace
The APRP program finished in 2017 during the Ghani presidency. APRP officially reintegrated 11,074 insurgents and commanders into civilian life.
In July 2019, the
Afghan High Peace Council
, native_name_a =
, native_name_r =
, type = Peace movement
, seal =
, seal_size =
, seal_caption =
, seal_alt =
, logo =
, logo_size ...
was closed and its authority was transferred to the
State Ministry for Peace.
Gulbuddin agreement
While local peace deals had been signed in 2006 and 2010,
on 22 September 2016, a national-level draft peace deal was signed between the Afghan government and the
Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin
The Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin ( fa, حزب اسلامی گلبدین; abbreviated HIG), also referred to as Hezb-e-Islami or Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), is an Afghan political party and former militia, originally founded in 1976 as Hezb-e-Is ...
militant group.
2018–August 2021
From April to June 2018, the
People's Peace Movement held a peace march, called the "Helmand peace convoy", across Afghanistan, in reaction to a car bombing on 23 March 2018 in
Lashkar Gah
Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...
that had killed 14 people.
The marchers called for a
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
at least two days long. They marched through Taliban-controlled territory. Arriving in Kabul on 18 June, they protested outside
UNAMA offices and nearby embassies and met with president
Ashraf Ghani
Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban.
Born in L ...
.
On 5 June 2018, Ghani announced an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban until 20 June, the end of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
. During 16–18 June, both sides simultaneously held to the ceasefire.
;US–Taliban deal
On 29 February 2020, following negotiations between US and Taliban negotiators that had started in
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
in 2018, a US–Taliban agreement that called for prisoner exchange and the withdrawal of US forces, the
US–Taliban deal
The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, commonly known as the US–Taliban deal or the Doha Agreement, was a peace agreement signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar, to bring an end to the 2001 ...
, was signed.
The deal led to the
withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, the collapse of the Afghan Army,
and the
August 2021 Fall of Kabul to Taliban forces.
Islamic Emirate
Following the Taliban taking power in 2021, the
United States Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American Federal government of the United States, federal institution tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individual ...
(USIP) argued that a peace process continued to be necessary. USIP stated that, "Violent resistance has percolated across the country, with ousted former military leaders, ethnic militia commanders and extremist groups like the local branch of the Islamic State all keen to contest the Taliban's authority."
On 5 September 2021,
Ahmad Massoud
Ahmad Massoud (Pashto/, ; born 1989) is an Afghan politician who is the founder and Leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan. He is the eldest son of anti-Soviet military leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was appointed as the CEO of Ma ...
, leader of the
National Resistance Front of Afghanistan
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), also known as the Second Resistance, is a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The founder and p ...
involved in the
Republican insurgency in Afghanistan
The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing armed conflict between the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on one side, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanis ...
that started following the Taliban takeover, called for a mutual ceasefire between the insurgency and the Taliban, to be mediated by the Ulema council of religious scholars.
References
{{Afghanistan War
Peace processes
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Taliban