Worsening security greets US defense chief in Kabul

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US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Kabul on Friday to meet the new commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan as Washington faces growing questions over its strategy to force the Taliban into talks to end the grinding conflict.

Mattis and US Army General Scott Miller, who assumed command of NATO forces on Sunday, are expected to discuss progress on talks with the Taliban, despite deteriorating security and turmoil within the Afghan government.

The United States is a year into its latest attempt to step up pressure on the Taliban by increasing air strikes and sending thousands more troops to train and advise Afghan government forces. But the effort has yet to make Afghanistan more secure and stable. The 17-year-old war is America’s longest conflict.

Mattis is accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General Joseph Dunford.

Incoming General Scott Miller (C), commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, gestures as he speaks during a change of command ceremony at Resolute Support in Kabul, September 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Speaking with reporters this week, Mattis said he was hopeful about peace talks with the Taliban.

"Right now, we have more indications that reconciliation is no longer just a shimmer out there, no longer just a mirage," he said.

Over the summer, a top US State Department official met Taliban officials in Qatar to try to lay the groundwork for broader peace talks.

The US government has pointed towards the Taliban accepting a temporary truce in June, as a sign of why the talks should be viewed with hope.

"The most important work that has to be done is beginning the political process and reconciliation," Dunford told reporters traveling with him.

An Afghan wrestler looks on at the entrance gate at the site of a suicide attack, after a blast that targeted wrestlers during a training session at the Maiwand Club, in Kabul, September 6, 2018. /VCG Photo

"What we are trying to do in the military dimension is convince the Taliban that they cannot win on the battlefield and that they must engage in a peace process."

Privately, however, US officials and experts are more cautious.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was unclear how much influence Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar, had over the group's leadership.

"I think that both the US and Afghanistan have perhaps exaggerated the good news in Afghanistan," said Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based think tank Wilson Center.

Two insurgent commanders have told Reuters that the Taliban rejected a second ceasefire offered this month by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Source(s): Reuters