The International Committee of the Red Cross is counting on talks with the Taliban to be able to continue its work in Afghanistan, says ICRC President Peter Maurer. “I trust that we can at least negotiate a humanitarian space with the Taliban that allows us to better serve the population, but I do not rule out that we will have difficulties,” Maurer told Swiss public broadcaster SRF on Thursday after returning from three days in Afghanistan. “There are different currents within the Taliban, and there are even more radical groups outside the Taliban.” The ICRC has the advantage that it has already talked to the Taliban before, said Maurer. “We have through our mandate visited in prison virtually all the Taliban leadership, who spent years in jail in Guantanamo or Bagram,” he told SRF. “I think that has also shown this Taliban leadership that the ICRC is a credible actor on the ground, that we can be talked to. But I don't want to play down the problems we still face.” He said the...
