The recent progresses made in the Afghan peace process following six-day talks between US and Taliban officials in Qatar met with mixed reaction by social media users in Afghanistan. 

The talks led by US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad were aimed at finding a negotiated settlement to the 17-year conflict which has gripped Afghanistan following the fall of Taliban regime in 2001. 

The US and Taliban officials have reportedly agreed in principle to the framework of a peace deal as the New York Times put it in a report quoting Khalilzad. “We have a draft of the framework that has to be fleshed out before it becomes an agreement,” said Khalilzad as quoted by the New York Times in a report on Monday.

As an open platform to express their ideas, Afghans from around the country and some of them from abroad said that ahead of talking with the Taliban, the United States needs to seal a peace deal with Pakistan, a country which is believed to have a strong influence on the Taliban.

“In reality, there is no hope for peace with the Taliban. In most cases, when we talk about peace, it appears in contrast with Pakistan’s interests, therefore Pakistan does not want peace (in Afghanistan),” a Facebook user, Amiree, wrote on TOLOnews page’s post about peace. “Let’s assume, if peace is sealed with the Taliban and the foreigners are evacuated, then what is the guarantee that the chaos of 1990s are not repeated again?”, he asked. 

“Peace will be restored finally, but we need to be cautious that what would be the price for peace. We should not compromise on the gains we have had over the past several years. They gains must be protected,” wrote Esmatullah, a Facebook user. 

Democracy, freedom of press, women’s rights and other civil liberties are among major gains that Afghans basically refer to in the post-Taliban democracy in the country. 

Some users meanwhile said that the Afghan public were not aware of what topics were discussed during the talks in Qatar.  

“Your question (a question posted by TOLOnews about the peace process) is beyond the capacity of the Afghan people and the world. Only God knows about it. CIA knows about it that what they (Americans) want and what are their plans. Afghans do not have any idea whether US has changed its geo-politic approach towards Afghanistan or not,” said one user who call himself Logar, the name of a province in the southeast of Kabul. 

This comes hours after President Ashraf Ghani assured the nation that their rights will not be compromised in peace with Taliban.  

“Pakistan is deceiving the foreigners. With the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, a civil war will erupt,” said Wahid, a Facebook user. 

Pakistan has always said that it works to stabilize Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Sunday said last week’s talks between the United States and the Taliban was a "major diplomatic victory".

“Pakistan played a vital role in bringing the US and the Taliban to the negotiations table. We had decided to move forward with peace. The world has accepted Pakistan’s stance on the peace process" he said.

Khalilzad, who met with Afghan media in Kabul on Monday, said there is a “moment of opportunity for peace” and that he hopes Afghans will deal with the opportunity “urgently and positively”.

He said they made progress on vital issues and agreed “to agreements in principle on a couple of very important issues”.

But president Ghani, in turn, apparently tried to assure the Afghan people that no deal would be made without Kabul’s awareness and full participation in negotiations with the resurgent movement. 

He said Taliban has two choices at the moment - to either stand with the people of Afghanistan or be used as a tool by other countries.

Taliban has been staging daily attacks targeting members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), a war which has been causing thousands of casualties to the Afghan civilians and security forces since their ouster from power. 

Ghani, who addressed a panel at the World Economic Forum on Jan. 24, disclosed new figures on casualties of Afghan forces by saying that more than 45,000 Afghan security personnel have lost their lives since he took office in September 2014.

“Over 45,000 Afghan security personnel have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Ghani said. “The number of international casualties is less than 72.”

Taliban has in the past constantly refused to negotiate directly with the Afghan government and instead call it a “puppet”.