A second major militant group is following in the Taliban's footsteps by suspending talks with the United States and Afghan officials, another setback to efforts toward a peaceful resolution to the decade-long war. The insurgent faction Hezb-i-Islami was abandoning talks because they had produced nothing “practical,” said the group's European representative, Qaribur Rahman Saeed. Earlier this month, the Taliban announced it was breaking off dialogue with the US. Part of the US-led coalition's exit strategy is to gradually transfer security responsibility to Afghan forces. Another tack is to pull the Taliban and other militant factions into political discussions with the Afghan government. Hizb-i-Islami is a radical militia that controls territory in Afghanistan's northeast and launches attacks against US forces from Pakistan. Its leader, powerful warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is a former Afghan prime minister and one-time US ally.. The US and Afghan governments know that in addition to getting the blessing of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, any peace deal would have to be supported by Hekmatyar.
