Taliban, Afghan figures speak ceasefire however fail to agree

The u.  s. and Asian nation, long-regarded as sympathetic to the Afghan Taliban, each welcome the private talks geared toward conveyance associate finish to the devastating war in Islamic State of Afghanistan.

Taliban representatives met with Afghan political figures for a second day in Qatar on Sunday, and one participant same the 2 sides mentioned a attainable ceasefire however ultimately disagreed over the continued  presence of U.S. troops within the country.

Participants in Sunday s meeting in Al-Khor, a seashore city north of El Beda, emerged from the venue smiling and happy on Sunday however refused to speak to waiting reporters.

The informal talks, hosted by Qatar s foreign ministry, came as fighting escalated once the withdrawal of most U.S. and allied troops. The Taliban recently launched associate offensive in northern Islamic State of Afghanistan that brought its fighters to the outskirts of Kunduz town, a metropolis.

The Afghan government has created no official statement on the conferences, although a member of the country s High Peace Council confirmed a delegation would attend conferences in Qatar with the Taliban.

One Taliban participant within the talks told Reuters by phonephone late on Sunday that associate eight-member Taliban delegation, headed by Sher Mahomet Abbas Stanekzai, had control direct dialogue with Afghan officers.

Then the dialogue started brazenly, and therefore the Afghan delegation and Qayyum Kochai, uncle of (Afghan) President Ashraf Ghani, demanded we have a tendency to stop our fighting and announce a ceasefire. They referred to as U.S.A. brothers and suggested U.S.A. to return to Islamic State of Afghanistan and conform the Afghan constitution," he said. once the dialogue began, ‎our individuals gave demands and conditions in written type and ... distributed copies among all the participants," he same on condition of obscurity.

The Taliban same they might not stop fighting till all foreign forces left Islamic State of Afghanistan, he said. the govt. delegation argued that almost all foreigners had already left and solely trainers remained, United Nations agency would additionally leave if the Taliban stopped fighting, he said.

The talks terminated with no agreement except to carry another meeting within the United Arab Emirates "probably next month".

Tens of thousands of Afghans have died since the U.S. and its allies drove the Taliban s hard-line religionist regime from power in 2001. many previous peace initiatives have unsuccessful. Taliban and Afghan sources have same the Qatar dialogue was additionally attended by representatives of many countries together with the U.S., China and Asian nation.

Pakistan had no investigate whether or not it attended however applauded the dialogue. Asian nation absolutely supports peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban in Qatar," same Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the foreign secretary of Asian nation. "Peace in Islamic State of Afghanistan is imperative for peace within the region.

An official of the U.S. State Department didn't say whether or not a U.S. representative attended however same Washington was "strongly collateral of associate Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation method whereby the Taliban and therefore the Afghans continue participating in talks towards a settlement to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan".