Taliban Seek "Lion's Share Of Power" In Deadlocked Peace Talks: US Envoy

US diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad's bleak assessment of the Afghanistan peace process coincides with Taliban advances that have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians.

The Taliban and the Kabul government are far apart in US-backed talks on bringing peace to Afghanistan, with the insurgents demanding "the lion's share of power" in any new government, the special US envoy said on Tuesday. Afghan-born veteran US diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad's bleak assessment of the peace process coincides with Taliban advances on provincial capitals that have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians as the US troop pullout nears completion after 20 years of war. "At this point, they (the Taliban) are demanding that they take the lion's share of power in the next government given the military situation as they see it," Khalilzad told the Aspen Security Forum in an online conference. The deadlocked negotiations in Doha were the subject of a telephone call on Tuesday between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, with them agreeing on the need accelerate talks, the US State Department said.