Reuters, Moscow :
Russia is ready to join stuttering peace talks on Afghanistan if interests of all parties taking part in them are respected, including Afghanistan itself, Interfax news agency cited Russian envoy on Afganistan Zamir Kabulov as saying on Wednesday.
Russia considers inefficient the current format of the talks, sponsored by the four-power group of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and China, and does not plan to join in, although Moscow is ready to create a new format, he said.
The Afghan government refused to take part in the talks just a week after a massive bomb blast in Kabul killed at least 64 people and wounded hundreds on April 19.
Bullet-ridden bunkers and signposts shredded by rockets bear witness to dozens of Taliban attacks this month on police posts around Kunduz, the northern Afghan city that fell briefly in September in the insurgents’ biggest victory to date.
Unlike that short yet humiliating blow to Afghan security forces and the NATO troops deployed to support them, this time the main checkpoints held firm, in a sign that some lessons of the recent past have been learned.
“Last year the army didn’t do anything and Taliban infiltration into the city took us by surprise,” said police major Abdul Wahab. Now, he said, the army, police and Afghan intelligence were working closely together.
While his comments reflect recriminations that flew between different branches of Afghanistan’s fledgling security forces immediately after the fall of Kunduz, the fact that police and soldiers are coordinating closely is a significant shift.
Reinforcements of regular Afghan soldiers and commandos have been sent to the area, an acknowledgement by the government in Kabul that holding on to the city should be a priority.
As part of a new strategy to go after the enemy rather than wait for militants to strike first, Afghan army commandos have carried out at least 10 operations against them around the city since mid-March, and more are planned.
“Last year Afghan forces learned that sitting back and being defensive is not working,” said U.S. Army Colonel Paul Kreis, top NATO adviser to acting Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai.
“This time they are being more maneuverable, more on the offensive,” he told Reuters on a recent visit to the city.
Taliban fighters bent on overthrowing the government still surround much of the city and say they have delayed an all-out assault in order to minimize civilian casualties.
But Afghan commanders believe the changes introduced mean their forces are better placed to defend Kunduz and other cities targeted by insurgents, who have grown stronger over the last 16 months since NATO’s main combat mission ended.
Russia is ready to join stuttering peace talks on Afghanistan if interests of all parties taking part in them are respected, including Afghanistan itself, Interfax news agency cited Russian envoy on Afganistan Zamir Kabulov as saying on Wednesday.
Russia considers inefficient the current format of the talks, sponsored by the four-power group of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and China, and does not plan to join in, although Moscow is ready to create a new format, he said.
The Afghan government refused to take part in the talks just a week after a massive bomb blast in Kabul killed at least 64 people and wounded hundreds on April 19.
Bullet-ridden bunkers and signposts shredded by rockets bear witness to dozens of Taliban attacks this month on police posts around Kunduz, the northern Afghan city that fell briefly in September in the insurgents’ biggest victory to date.
Unlike that short yet humiliating blow to Afghan security forces and the NATO troops deployed to support them, this time the main checkpoints held firm, in a sign that some lessons of the recent past have been learned.
“Last year the army didn’t do anything and Taliban infiltration into the city took us by surprise,” said police major Abdul Wahab. Now, he said, the army, police and Afghan intelligence were working closely together.
While his comments reflect recriminations that flew between different branches of Afghanistan’s fledgling security forces immediately after the fall of Kunduz, the fact that police and soldiers are coordinating closely is a significant shift.
Reinforcements of regular Afghan soldiers and commandos have been sent to the area, an acknowledgement by the government in Kabul that holding on to the city should be a priority.
As part of a new strategy to go after the enemy rather than wait for militants to strike first, Afghan army commandos have carried out at least 10 operations against them around the city since mid-March, and more are planned.
“Last year Afghan forces learned that sitting back and being defensive is not working,” said U.S. Army Colonel Paul Kreis, top NATO adviser to acting Defense Minister Masoom Stanekzai.
“This time they are being more maneuverable, more on the offensive,” he told Reuters on a recent visit to the city.
Taliban fighters bent on overthrowing the government still surround much of the city and say they have delayed an all-out assault in order to minimize civilian casualties.
But Afghan commanders believe the changes introduced mean their forces are better placed to defend Kunduz and other cities targeted by insurgents, who have grown stronger over the last 16 months since NATO’s main combat mission ended.
