Afghan officials in Qatar to resume talks with Taliban

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in the Qatari capital Doha on November 21, 2020, [PATRICK SEMANSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images]

An official delegation from the Afghan government headed to Qatar yesterday to resume the second round of peace talks with the Taliban, government spokesman Nader Naderi said.

According to the New Khaleej, Naderi said the delegation is ready to resume “talks aiming to achieve permanent peace,” stressing that the main goal is to reach a “permanent ceasefire”.

The peace talks aim to end 42 years of armed struggle which started following the military coup in Afghanistan in 1978.

Qatar played the role of mediator between the Taliban and the US who reached a deal on 29 February 2020 stipulating gradual American withdrawal from Afghanistan and a prisoner swap.

On 12 December 2020, talks between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government started. They were suspended for a while due to differences and then renewed again.

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