Media captionTaliban “threaten 70% of Afghanistan”, BBC investigation unearths.
Taliban officers met secretly with a senior US diplomat in Qatar final week, sources in the group have advised the BBC.
The face-to-face talks in Doha with Alice Wells, a state division deputy assistant secretary, have been “crucial”, one Taliban legitimate stated.
News of the assembly follows a directive from the Trump management for US diplomats to talk immediately with the Afghan militant team.
The Taliban have lengthy mentioned that most effective with the us will they talk about peace.
Direct talks with the militants, with out Afghan officials provide, marks an incredible turnaround in Washington’s coverage because it seeks to end America’s longest conflict.
It comes after an extraordinary 3-day ceasefire during Eid celebrations in June that was in large part revered via all sides. There had been assaults due to the fact that, together with one on military check issues in Badghis province.
The meeting was once first stated via the Wall Street Magazine. Two senior Taliban resources showed it to the BBC’s Mahfouz Zubaide, in Kabul. They said a six-member delegation was led via Abbas Stanikzai, who heads the crowd’s political workplace in Doha.
Afghan civilian deaths ‘hit document high’ Counting the price of Trump’s air battle in Afghanistan Taliban ‘threaten 70% of Afghanistan’
The U.s. department of state has confirmed that Ms Wells, of the Bureau of South and Significant Asian Affairs, used to be in Qatar last week to fulfill government officers and discuss an Afghan peace process but did not make sure or deny the Taliban meeting.
One of the Taliban officers described the talks as a “initial” dialogue to arrange a channel between the group and senior US officials ahead of additional meetings. Neither would offer additional details.
Another reliable told Reuters news agency: “We agreed to meet again soon and get to the bottom of the Afghan struggle through discussion”.
There are studies that different meetings have taken place however this could now not be showed.
The Taliban are stated to have insisted that no Afghan officials have to be present at the meeting with Ms Wells. The United States has previously insisted that Afghan officers should be a part of peace talks.
The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in the wake of the 11 September assaults, ousting the Taliban from power and surroundings the stage for what has was a 17-yr struggle.
President Donald Trump re-dedicated the u.s. to the war in a brand new technique final yr, and stepped up air moves in opposition to the militants to take a look at to drive them to the negotiating table.
A previous try at direct talks in Doha failed in 2013, while then Afghan President Hamid Karzai become offended that the Taliban have been flying a flag out of doors their new Qatar place of work and the usage of the title of the Islamic state they based when they came to power within the 1990s – the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
