The killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by an elite US team has sapped Taliban morale and encouraged fighters to join peace talks, while piling pressure on insurgent leaders living in Pakistan, an Afghan intelligence official said on Wednesday.
Lutfullah Mashal, spokesman for the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Afghanistan’s intelligence service, also warned however that opposition to peace talks among powerful factions in Pakistan, where key insurgent groups fighting in Afghanistan are based, would slow progress in negotiations.
Taliban fighters were demoralised by news that the man who masterminded the Sept 11 attacks was living in relative suburban comfort while they risked all in Afghanistan’s inhospitable mountains and deserts, he said.
