President Ashraf Ghani is being pushed to the sidelines as the Afghan Taliban ignore his overtures for peace and negotiate instead with his friends, and enemies, over the future of Afghanistan.
From Doha to Moscow, the insurgents are meeting an array of envoys with competing interests in Afghanistan, from the United States eager to withdraw its troops to politicians in Kabul jostling for power.
Experts say regional powers — including US foes Iran and Russia — are angling for an audience with the Afghan Taliban, who are already outlining their vision for Islamic rule once foreign troops leave.
“The sad irony is that Afghanistan’s government is in danger of getting written out of the script of its own peace process,” analyst Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center in Washington told AFP.
