Reuters on February 20, 2015, quoted Afghan security officials as saying the same day that Afghanistan had arrested and handed over at least 15 Muslim Uighur militants -- three in the capital, Kabul, and 12 later in the eastern province of Kunar bordering Pakistan -- to China in a bid to persuade China to use its influence with Pakistan to help start negotiations with the Taliban. Three senior Afghan police and intelligence officials described the operation last month to capture ethnic Uighur militants, members of a separatist movement opposed to Beijing's rule over Xinjiang. One of the security officials was quoted as saying "We offered our hand in cooperation with China and in return we asked them to pressure Pakistan to stop supporting the Taliban or at least bring them to the negotiating table." A member of Afghanistan's intelligence agency claimed that they had been in contact with al Qaeda and other militants operating in Pakistan.
Hopes for a peace process were meanwhile raised on February 19, 2015, when Pakistani and Afghan officials said members of the Taliban leadership had signaled they were willing to begin talks as soon as next month.
The apparent Taliban change of position was said to have been made under pressure from Pakistan, although the official Taliban spokesman denied any move toward negotiations with the Afghan government.
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