THE chilling reality appears to be that while the Taliban is in peace talks with the US in Qatar, it is making clear it is negotiating from a position of strength. Thus even as its delegates sat across the table from American representatives, a car bomb smashed into a Kabul police station, killing 14 and maiming some 150 more.

Though the Taliban proudly claimed the attack was directed against the government security forces, the tragic reality, as in so much of this seemingly endless conflict, is that the majority of victims were civilians, ordinary people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

President Trump’s special representative for Afghanistan had just boasted that “excellent progress” had been made at weekend talks in Doha. He looked forward to the continued “technical discussions”.

And then came the Kabul police station blast. There was nothing “technical” about the horrific injuries caused by the explosion. Ordinary Afghans who have become inured to the endless cycle of violence and destruction nevertheless dream of a time when the country will be at peace, when they can discover the long unknown mysteries of living in a country without sudden death and brutal intimidation.

UN figures published last week suggest that more Afghan civilians are perishing at the hands of the security forces and their US allies than because of insurgent attacks. This may come as a depressing surprise to outside observers. The slaughter caused by the Taliban tends to come in high-profile attacks in Kabul and other major cities. Thus it is easy to form the impression they are guilty of most of the bloodshed. Tragically, the reality seems to be that Afghan police and army assaults, backed up by US drones and other weaponry, are causing a significant number of deaths and injuries, in actions that are far away from what remains of the media spotlight concentrated in the capital.

However, this said, the activities of Taliban activists in remote areas where the security forces have only intermittent control are no less deplorable. It should not be forgotten that while they were in power, the Talibs demanded small farmers grow opium poppies and still fund themselves through this unprincipled trade.

It is also important to remember the Taliban is not an homogenous group responding to a single leader. Even before the death of the founder Mullah Omar, different chiefs were going their own way. Among them were enthusiastic promoters of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Some of that support has since been transferred to Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS). These Talibs are likely to have no truck with any deal that could finally be hammered out between their supposed leaders and the Americans in Qatar.

Though the conflict in their country has largely sunk beneath the gaze of international media, the outlook for ordinary Afghans has arguably never looked bleaker. Historically wars here have rarely been decisive because when the victors come down from the hills to occupy the cities, the vanquished take themselves to the hills and the whole bloody struggle resumes. There have been few decisive victories that created any sort of enduring stability. The fortieth anniversary of the catastrophic Russian invasion falls this December. Fully two generations have grown up not knowing peace. How much longer can this agony endure?