US-Taliban talks resume in Doha

Doha: The United States and the Taliban resumed talks on Friday in Qatar’s capital city of Doha, a US source told Tolo News.

The development comes three months after President Donald Trump called off the negotiations which were aimed at bringing an end to the American role in Afghanistan.

“The US rejoined talks today in Doha. The focus of discussion will be the reduction of violence that (will) lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a ceasefire,” the source said.

Recently, US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad paid a two-day visit to Kabul where he held talks with the top Afghan government officials and prominent politicians, including former president Hamid Karzai.

The US and Taliban had held 9 rounds of peace talks in Doha and had reached upon an agreement “in principle”, albeit, the negotiations were called off by US President Donald Trump citing the group’s continued attacks.