Taliban reject ceasefire offer conveyed by Afghan peace marchers: People's Peace Movement

The Taliban, at a meeting with Afghan peace marchers known as the People's Peace Movement (PPM), have rejected calls for a ceasefire, the grassroots Afghan activists said on Saturday, noting that the talks had revealed "deep differences" between the sides.

PPM members set off for a long march from the capital of the southern province of Helmand, Lashkar Gah, to the Taliban-controlled Musa Qala District to personally extend an appeal for a ceasefire to the radical movement. The PPM has just returned from its 60-mile journey, during which at least three of its activists were reportedly taken by the Taliban to an unknown area for talks and later released.

"There were deep differences [at talks with the Taliban], we discussed ceasefire, foreign troops withdrawal, intra-Afghan talks, and the drawbacks of the war... The Taliban commanders told us that they will announce ceasefire once US troops leave Afghanistan, and also that announcing a ceasefire will give the Americans an opportunity to intensify attacks against them," PPM leader Iqbal Khaibar, who was present at the talks, told a press conference.

Although the Taliban previously said that they would not allow PPM members to enter territories under their control, the Afghan peace activists claim that the Taliban did appoint a group of ten delegates for discussions with them.

"We told them the war has killed [scores of] Afghans, paved way for drug traffickers and foreign interference, we are waiting for their response," Khaibar added.

Another PPM group member, Sarwar Ghafari, said that the door to peace would remain open, reiterating that war was not a solution.

The PPM gained prominence last year when it started a march to Kabul from Lashkar Gah after its loved ones lost their lives in a bombing in this provincial capital, mainly controlled by the Taliban.

The Taliban have reportedly refused to comment on the latest contacts with the PPM, but it had early claimed that the group was being managed by the US embassy in Kabul and intelligence services.

The contacts come as another round of US-Taliban peace talks is expected to be held in Qatar in late June with rising rumors about a possible breakthrough. Over the last few months, the sides have been involved in regular talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, negotiating an agreement for US troops withdrawal and the Taliban's guarantees that Afghan soil will not be used to harbor members of the al-Qaeda terror group