The second round of three day talks among Afghan political and civil society activists, hosted by the the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, has began on Vienna.
The full list of participants in the talks have not been revealed, but Ahmad Massoud, the head of the armed anti-Taliban group, the National Resistance Front (NRF), former member of parliament, Fawzia Kofi, and the former Foreign Minister, Rangin Dadfar Spanata are the well known attendees.
Several other figures, including Mohammad Mohaqiq and Salahuddin Rabbani have been invited, but have not travelled to the Austrian capital from Turkey, and will speak online.
Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of national security who attended the first round of the meeting last year, has said that he will not be participating in this year’s session due to prior engagements.
The focus of the meeting, the NRF has said, will be to strengthen confidence among the Taliban opposition groups for “continuing and expanding the resistance for the freedom of Afghanistan, increasing pressure on the Taliban and its supporters, and outlining a way out of the current crisis.”
