zReportage.com Story of the Week #782: TUESDAY April 13, 2021: ‘AFGHANISTAN Exhausted By War’ by photographer Azimi of Xinhua: Afghanistan remained the deadliest country for civilians in 2020, as peace talks began between the Afghan government and the Taliban, ‘As fighting persisted, while the peace talks struggled to get off the ground, all sides to Afghanistan’s conflict continued to cause terrible harm to civilians,’ said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. US President Biden will remove all US troops from Afghanistan before this year’s 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, finally ending America’s longest war despite mounting fears of a Taliban victory. Some had hoped the Biden administration would adopt a more ‘conditions-based’ approach to the peace process. Instead, that has been explicitly ruled out, but a major conference in Istanbul, later this month could see progress. Many observers have stated that the Taliban effectively believes that it has won and can wait out the US withdrawal, but the United States is eager to try to find a lasting peace solution that could bring stability. ‘Neither the Afghan or US governments have demonstrated a commitment to justice for the conflict’s victims and their families,’ Gossman said. ‘ICC member states and other governments should press for credible accountability to be part of the peace negotiations.’ Welcome to: ‘AFGHANISTAN Exhausted By War’
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