111409044560389674

Good News in Afghanistan: As a high school kid, I taught English to Afghan refugees, leading to some friendships that have lasted to this day, so Afghanistan never ceased to be a place of great interest to me. In the days of the Soviet-Afghan War, I probably followed the news from there as closely as I do events in North Korea today, so stories like this one are heartening:

KABUL (Reuters) – Two senior members of Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime surrendered to the government on Thursday under an amnesty offer, a provincial governor said. The officials — Mullah Mohammad Naseem, the former Taliban governor of Zabul province, and Haji Mohammad Akhtar, former police chief of Farah province — surrendered following month-long talks, the governor of Helmand province said.
. . . .

Guerrilla activity has picked up after a winter lull but activity is down on past years, fueling speculation the Taliban may be struggling to find recruits and resources.

Afghanistan has a “fighting season” that corresponds to the melting of the mountain passes near the Pakistan border. That pretty much imposes a winter truce in the North, but things typically don’t slow down quite as much in the South, which includes Zabul, Helmand, and Kandahar. Still, the fact that these guys are giving up in the spring makes the story all the more significant. And peace is a prerequisite for prosperity.