Negotiators from the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government yesterday met in Qatar, according to the warring sides, after a long pause in peace talks between the two.
The development came on Friday, the second day of a three-day ceasefire announced by the Taliban for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
They began negotiations in September last year to find a way to end decades of war. But the talks stalled after a few rounds and violence has escalated since the United States started a final pullout of troops from Afghanistan on May 1.
‘The two sides discussed the on-going situation of the country and emphasised speeding up the peace talks in Doha,‘ the negotiating team representing the Afghan government said on Twitter.
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The spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, Mohammad Naeem, posted a similar message on Twitter and added that both sides had agreed to continue talks after the Eid holidays.
Finding common ground between the two warring sides has been a top priority for Western capitals, particularly Washington, which has announced it will withdraw all US troops by September to end its 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.
The Taliban refused to attend a Washington-backed conference in Turkey’s Istanbul last month that was being held in a bid to speed up peace talks. The event was later indefinitely postponed.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK