Long-delayed peace talks between Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are set to kick off in Qatar on September 12, officials and the militant group say.
The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, has departed for Qatar, as both the Afghan government and the Taliban expressed their readiness to start peace talks.
Afghan officials say the government is dispatching a delegation to Qatar ahead of long-delayed peace talks after authorities pressed ahead with the release of Taliban prisoners.
Afghan officials say they have released about another 100 Taliban prisoners on September 1 as part of a prisoner swap meant to clear the way for the start of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.
Abdullah Abdullah, the former chief executive officer of Afghanistan's unity government, said President Ashraf Ghani doesn’t have the authority to appoint people to the body tasked with leading peace talks with the Taliban, raising questions about how quickly those negotiations can progress.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has revealed the names of the appointed members and leaders of the country’s High Council for National Reconciliation, a body tasked with leading peace negotiations with the Taliban.
A recently freed Taliban fighter has called for "flexibility" in peace negotiations that are expected to start soon between the militants and the Afghan government.
The first intra-Afghan negotiations over a postwar "road map" were meant to begin this week. But there are new hurdles for the process to get over.
Afghan officials say a member of the government's team tasked with negotiating with the Taliban has survived an assassination attempt.
Hopes for ending four decades of war in Afghanistan are high this week after a Loya Jirga or grand assembly of more than 3,000 political elites, tribal leaders, clerics, and activists approved the release of 400 Taliban prisoners.
The Afghan government and the Taliban are on the verge of starting peace talks aimed at ending almost two decades of war in Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani said that he will approve the release of 400 Taliban militants.
Thousands of prominent Afghans have supported the release of about 400 Taliban prisoners on August 9, including many who had been involved in attacks that killed Afghans and foreigners.
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