The Afghan presidential campaign, which has been postponed twice due to security problems, opened amid the explosion in the capital Kabul. At least 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing attack on the office of vice presidential candidate Saleh, the running mate of current president Ghani.
Ghani, who is seeking re-election, hopes to witness the moment of direct dialogue between the Afghan government and talibanda. The day before the election campaign, Afghan government officials said they would hold talks with Taliban representatives within two weeks; But the Taliban and the United States immediately denied the claim.
The Taliban plans to start the eighth round of negotiations with the United States next week, but so far, the organization still refuses to talk with the Afghan government.
According to Reuters on July 29, suicide bombers detonated a car bomb outside the office building of vice presidential candidate Saleh on Sunday afternoon; Subsequently, three attackers rushed into the building to launch an attack.
After six hours of confrontation, Afghan security forces killed all the attackers and rescued 150 people trapped in the building. The attack killed 20 people, including 16 civilians, injured 50 and slightly injured Saleh.
So far, no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Taliban and the Islamic state (ISIS) have launched attacks on Afghan government targets.
On the day of the attack, Afghanistan launched the election campaign for the presidential election on September 28. Including Ghani, a total of 18 candidates registered to compete. This is also the fourth presidential election held in Afghanistan since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.
Ghani, who was elected president in 2014, will seek re-election. His main opponents include chief executive Abdullah Abdullah and former intelligence director Hanif Atmar. The media generally predicted that Ghani would win the election.
Although he did not participate in the presidential election, the Taliban inevitably became one of the key factors in the election. Due to Taliban attacks on government targets, Afghanistan has postponed the presidential election twice this year, from April to September.
The day before the election campaign, Afghan peace minister Abdul Salam Rahimi released heavy news to the media, saying that the 15 member government delegation would hold talks with the Taliban in Europe in two weeks' time, 'we are preparing for direct dialogue'.
For a long time, the Taliban, which controls nearly half of Afghanistan, refused to talk directly with the Afghan government and accused it of being a puppet of the United States. Earlier this month, the Taliban held their first talks with Afghan representatives, including government officials. However, government officials attended only in their own name, not on behalf of the Afghan government.
On Sunday, a Taliban spokesman denied the news released by Rahimi and reiterated that the internal dialogue in Afghanistan could be opened only after the U.S. military announced its withdrawal.
Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for reconciliation in Afghanistan, who is visiting Kabul, also expressed his position on social media, pointing out that the internal dialogue in Afghanistan will not be opened until the negotiations between the United States and the Taliban have a result.
US President trump is eager to fulfill his promise to end the nearly 18 year long war in Afghanistan before next year's general election. At present, 14000 US soldiers are stationed in Afghanistan.
With the exclusion of the Afghan government, the United States has held negotiations with the Taliban for nearly a year, but no substantive progress has been made. One of the biggest differences is the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The Taliban asked the United States to determine a timetable for the withdrawal of troops before discussing the ceasefire and other matters; However, the United States requires the Taliban to participate in the internal dialogue in Afghanistan first, and then determine the time for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. In the seventh round of negotiations concluded earlier this month, the Taliban insisted on the withdrawal of U.S. troops within six months, while the United States set a 30-month timetable.
Next week, US representative Khalilzad will go to Doha to start the eighth round of negotiations with the Taliban on Afghanistan.
The United States hopes to reach a preliminary agreement with the Taliban before the Afghan presidential election in September; Once the agreement is reached, it is bound to have an impact on the presidential election. Ghani has said he is willing to hold talks with the Taliban 'unconditionally'.
During last year's Afghan parliamentary elections and negotiations with the United States, the Taliban increased their attacks on government targets. Due to frequent violence, two provinces were forced to postpone voting in last year's parliamentary elections.
The same security threat will also envelop the presidential election in September this year.