EU accuses Taliban of breaking commitment

The European Union yesterday condemned the Taliban's latest deadly attacks in Afghanistan and demanded "an urgent, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire". 

In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU commissioner for aid and crisis management Janez Lenarcic accused the Taliban of breaking its promise to seek a negotiated peace.

"This senseless violence is inflicting immense suffering upon Afghan citizens and is increasing the number of internally displaced persons in search of safety and shelter," they said.

"The Taliban's military offensive is in direct contradiction to their stated commitment to a negotiated settlement of the conflict and the Doha peace process," the statement continued.

"Some of these acts (recent Taliban attacks) could amount to war crimes and will have to be investigated. Those Taliban fighters or commanders responsible must be held accountable."

The statement singled out three recent attacks in particular, one on the UN office in Herat, an offensive in Lashkar Gah that killed 40 civilians and an assault on the defence minister's residence in Kabul.

Fighting in Afghanistan's long-running conflict began to intensify in May, when US and other foreign forces began the first stage of a withdrawal due to be completed later this month. The Taliban already control large swathes of the countryside and are now challenging Afghan government forces in several large cities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's national security advisor on Wednesday said that Afghanistan's government and the Taliban must both compromise and reach a peace settlement.

Wrapping up a week of talks in Washington, Moeed Yusuf played down the level of influence on the Taliban played by Pakistan, which was one of only three nations to recognize the hardline Islamist regime that was toppled in a US invasion after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"Whatever limited leverage we had, we used," he said, pointing to Pakistan encouraging the Taliban to enter talks with the Afghan government in Doha.

"Now with the troop withdrawal, that leverage has logically gone down further."