Afghan Taleban announce talks with US in Pakistan

Islamabad - Discussions will be held to end more than a 17-year long bloody war in Afghanistan.

The Taleban said Wednesday its negotiators would next week meet the top US and Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Imran Khan during a key round of talks in Islamabad as part of the ongoing Afghan peace talks. Neither Washington nor Islamabad immediately confirmed the announcement by the Taleban.
On the "formal invitation of the government of Pakistan, another meeting is scheduled to take place between the negotiation teams of the Islamic Emirate and the US on February 18 in Islamabad," Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.
The Taleban's delegation would also meet Prime Minister Khan, the statement said.
Mujahid said the regular round of talks was already scheduled to be held on February 25 in Qatar.
He said that in the meeting with Khan, Taleban would have "comprehensive discussions about Pak-Afghan relations and issues pertaining to Afghan refugees and Afghan businessmen".
Though there was no official confirmation, diplomatic sources in Pakistan said that the Taleban delegation would visit Pakistan and hold talks with both American and Pakistani officials.
The Taleban and the US are in a discussion to end more than a 17-year long bloody war in Afghanistan.
The Taleban control nearly half of Afghanistan, and are more powerful than at any time since the 2001 US-led invasion after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
Special US Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad recently said after six days of talks with the Taleban representatives in Doha last month that the US has made "significant progress" in its peace talks with the Taleban.
Since being appointed in September, Khalilzad has met with all sides in an attempt to end America's longest war in which the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers in more than 17 years.
US President Donald Trump reportedly wants to cut in half the 14,000 American troops in Afghanistan, and the Taleban leaders have made a US withdrawal a key condition in peace negotiations.