Islam Times - US Continues Negotiations with Taliban Militant Group in Qatar

Islam Times - The US administration reportedly has resumed negotiations with the Taliban militant group, three months after President Donald Trump abruptly halted talks aimed at ending America's longest war.

AFP cited a an unnamed US source as saying Washington resumed talks with the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday

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

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday.

He met with Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and other Afghan leaders to follow up on Trump’s November 28 top-secret visit to US troops in the war-torn country.

In September, the US and the Taliban appeared close to signing a deal that would have seen Washington begin withdrawing thousands of troops in return for security guarantees and potentially end almost two decades of war in Afghanistan.

It was also expected to pave the way towards direct talks between the Taliban and the government in Kabul. The Taliban have been saying they do not recognize the Afghan government, which has so far been kept out of previous US-Taliban talks.

Trump ended yearlong talks with the Taliban in September. The negotiations were aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.

The US president said at the time that the decision to end the talks was his response to a deadly bomb blast by the militants that killed 12 people in the Afghan capital of Kabul on September 5, including an American soldier.

During a surprise visit to a US military base in Afghanistan last week, Trump said the Taliban "wants to make a deal."

The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time. But US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.

US resumes negotiations with Taliban to end Afghan war.