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Obama Drone Strike May Have Jeopardized Afghanistan Peace Talks

Reuters

Ron Brynaert Freelance Reporter
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A drone strike that reportedly killed Taliban chief Akhtar Mohammad Mansour may have jeopardized Afghanistan peace talks, and even though the US doesn’t admit CIA attacks within Pakistan territory, President Barack Obama stated “we” were behind it on Monday.

“We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and Coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al Qaeda,” Obama stated Monday.

As a result, US Ambassador David Hale was “called in” by Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign affairs announced in a statement.

Fatemi “pointed out that the drone strike was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and a breach of the United Nation’s Charter that guarantees the inviolability of the territorial integrity of its member states,” and “also emphasized that such actions could adversely impact the ongoing efforts by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) for facilitating peace talks between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.”

However, Fatemi “underlined that Pakistan and the United States had been closely coordinating in the fight against the menace of terrorism and that this cooperation needed to be maintained.”

A Pakistan newspaper editorial observed that “the security equation in the Pak-Afghan region has changed once again.”

“Pakistan, the country that is alleged to have hosted Mullah Mansour, and said to have helped him ascend to the top of the Taliban leadership and nudged the group to the negotiating table with Kabul, is left with unanswered questions and is at the receiving end of considerable international finger-pointing,” the DAWN editorial continued.

It added “indisputedly” that “the Afghan question [needs] to be settled through dialogue,” but “given that the US has now bluntly stated that the Taliban leader was an impediment to negotiations and reportedly eliminated him, it is not clear what dialogue can be conducted with among the group or even if the Taliban will be able to stay united.”

One possible contender to lead the Taliban may be Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the FBI for “questioning in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed six people, including an American citizen.”

“He is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan,” the FBI website adds. “Haqqani also allegedly was inolved in the planning of the assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008.”

Haqqani is marked as a “specially designated global terrorist,” and there is a $5 million reward for information which leads to his arrest.

The Washington Post reported, “Some Afghan analysts believe that Haqqani, known for employing especially brutal tactics against coalition forces and foreigners, is now well positioned to assume full control over the Taliban.”

Another Washington Post article reports that the Obama administration will soon release “a long-delayed accounting of how many militants and noncombatant civilians it has killed since 2009”, but it’s “likely to exclude Pakistan.”

“The United States still does not publicly acknowledge CIA attacks inside Pakistan, although the Pentagon announced Saturday that it had targeted Taliban leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour in Pakistan,” the article added.

In 2012, during his re-election campaign, President Obama pledged to end the war in Afghanistan and “bring our troops home from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.” But US troops have been increased in Afghanistan since then and will most likely remain there after Obama formally leaves the White House next year.