Hopes of negotiating peace with the Afghan Taliban's new leader were swiftly fading from all sides Thursday, as US President Barack Obama warned the extremist movement will continue killing in Afghanistan.
"We anticipate the Taliban will continue an agenda of
violence," he said.
Obama was speaking the day after the militants named
Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader, elevating a low-profile religious
figure in a swift power transition after the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour in
a US drone strike.
Analysts have said it is unclear if Akhundzada, who faces
the enormous challenge of unifying the increasingly fragmented militant
movement, will emulate his former boss in shunning peace talks with the Afghan government.
But the US killing of Mansour showed that Washington has
at least for now abandoned hopes of reviving the direct peace talks between
Kabul and the Taliban, which broke down for the first time last summer.
Obama acknowledged that he was never going to find a
willing negotiating partner at the helm of the extremist group.
"I was not expecting a liberal democrat to be
appointed," he told reporters.
"My hope, although not my expectation, is that there
comes a point where the Taliban realise what they need to be doing" and
start getting into a dialogue with the government, he said.
"I am doubtful that it will be happening anytime
soon."
The Taliban has made no official statement on the future
of peace negotiations since announcing Akhundzada's leadership.
But Obama's comments were reinforced by a senior Taliban
source speaking to AFP in Pakistan, where Mansour was killed in the strike
Saturday, who said there would be no shift in the militants' stance.
"We consider NATO and the US troops as invaders and
our resistance movement will continue," the source said Wednesday, after
Akhundzada's leadership was announced.
"The drone strike against (Mansour) has proved that
the US is not sincere in bringing peace in Afghanistan, so peace talks at any
level will remain suspended till the new decision by the leadership
council."
In Afghanistan, an official with the High Peace Council
was cautious on the future of talks, saying Akhundzada "may not be
interested in political dialogue at least in the short term" but vowing
the council will continue its "endeavours for peace".
President Ashraf Ghani was more hawkish, tweeting
Thursday: "Taliban groups have yet another chance to end violence/lay
their arms & start normal life. Or they'll face the same fate as their
leadership."
- Peace 'scuttled' -
Analysts have told AFP that even if he favours peace
talks, Akhundzada -- seen by some as a symbolic rather than functional leader
-- would be unlikely to proceed without consensus from his supreme council.
Mansour's killing marked a significant shift for
Washington, highlighting a new willingness to target Taliban leaders in
Pakistan and risk retaliatory attacks against struggling Afghan security
forces.
It sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement, which
had seen a resurgence under Mansour.
He was killed just nine months after being formally
appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon confirmation of founder
Mullah Omar's death.
Omar died in 2013, but his death was kept secret for two
years, with Mansour issuing statements in his name -- a revelation that helped
fuel internal opposition and splintered the group into rival factions,
shattering the nascent peace process that had begun last summer.
Before his killing, Mansour had written a will handpicking
Akhundzada to be his successor, Taliban sources told AFP, in an apparent bid to
lend legitimacy to his appointment.
Pakistan said that attempts to restart talks had been
"scuttled" by Mansour's killing, with the country's top foreign
affairs official lashing out at a briefing in Islamabad Thursday.
The strike has "undermined the Afghan peace
process", Sartaj Aziz said.
The US, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan had agreed at
talks about the peace process in Islamabad earlier this month that a
"politically negotiated settlement was the most viable option", he
said.
"This understanding has not been respected... In less
than a year, the peace process has been scuttled twice."
