LA Times · Jul 29, 2015
Explainer: The prospects for peace in Afghanistan
Afghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack after clashes with Taliban fighters at the gate of an intelligence facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, on July 7.Less than a month after a historic first meeting, representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government are due to sit down again Friday in Pakistan amid reports that the insurgent group’s supreme leader is dead.
Mullah Mohammad Omar had not been seen publicly in more than a decade and long ago ceased running the Taliban’s day-to-day operations. But the man who ruled Afghanistan before the 2001 U.S.-led invasion was the spiritual guide of the insurgent faction that most strongly supported peace talks with Kabul.