‘There’s Nothing Going On

Senior Afghan Taliban chiefs flatly deny recent reports that insurgent leaders have sent secret peace feelers to Kabul. “How many times do we have to tell you there’s nothing going on?” asks a senior member of the ruling council, the Quetta Shura. The reports, he tells NEWSWEEK, are disinformation aimed at weakening Taliban resolve. “This is just very obvious propaganda,” he says, adding that no one of any importance has met with President Hamid Karzai’s representatives.
Another senior commander (neither would be named for security reasons) blames the rumors on well-meaning tribal elders and Afghan exiles who have visited Taliban leaders in the hope of acting as mediators.
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