The United States and Taliban officials have resumed talks in Qatar to firm up a deal enabling the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in return for Taliban security guarantees.

After 18 years of war and months of direct talks with Taliban leaders, the US appears to be on the cusp of reaching a deal that could allow a pullout of foreign forces followed by a ceasefire between the warring sides.

Two Taliban spokesmen said the ninth round of talks between the United States and the Taliban representatives started on Thursday evening.

A senior US official privy to the peace negotiations said the crucial meeting to iron out "smaller details" had begun in Qatar's capital city, Doha.

About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are now in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some US forces carry out counter-terrorism operations.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the American military role in Afghanistan has basically turned into a "ridiculous" police force, in a sign that he is open to a US troop drawdown there. </s> Doha, Aug 23 (IANS) The US and Taliban have resumed peace talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at chalking out a deal on the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security and negotiations with the government in Kabul.

Sources familiar with the ninth round of the talks said the negotiations, that began on Thursday, will focus on three key issues: the mechanism of Taliban prisoners release; a decision on whether to keep US intelligence in Afghanistan after a peace deal; and at what level of leadership the peace deal between the two sides should be signed, TOLO News reported.

“The recent statement by the US President that some part of the US intelligence will remain in Afghanistan has turned into a matter of discussion for the Taliban and it has raised some concerns. In this round, they will again discuss the issue in detail,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander.

The Wall Street Journal citing the US officials has said that the Taliban initially demanded an immediate pullout, however, the US negotiators pressed for a withdrawal stretched over 18-24 months while the Taliban softened their demand to nine to 12 months.

Before the talks began on Thursday, US Special Representative on Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad had said that Washington was ready to seal a peace deal with the Taliban if the group was ready for it.

Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday assured that peace would finally prevail in the war-torn country and that the nation should not have any concern about the ongoing talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha. </s> Doha, Qatar - United States officials and Taliban representatives have resumed negotiations in Qatar's capital on finding a peaceful solution to Afghanistan's long-running war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians.

Key issues in Thursday's talks, which began a day after US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Doha, remain the withdrawal of US and other foreign forces from the country and a commitment by the Taliban that Afghanistan will not be used as a launchpad for global attacks.

The two sides entered peace negotiations in October last year, and an agreement on these two central issues would set the stage for separate negotiations between Afghan officials and the Taliban on a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing government.

The Taliban has so far refused to speak to the Afghan government, calling a "puppet regime". The group says any engagement with Kabul would grant it legitimacy.

In a statement confirming the start of the ninth round of US-Taliban talks, group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Thursday that General Scott Miller, the commander of the US forces and the NATO-led non-combat Resolution Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan, was also present at the meeting in the Qatari capital.

After the conclusion of the eighth round of talks last week, a Taliban representative in Doha who is part of the group's negotiating team said a peace deal was "near", without providing further details.

"This [eighth] round of talks has been very productive and we are near to an agreement that will be finalised and hopefully announced in the next coming weeks," he said.

In June, during the seventh round of talks, both sides said there was an understanding on troop withdrawal but the details, including a timeline, had not been worked out yet.

About 14,000 US troops and some 17,000 troops from 39 NATO allies and partner countries are in Afghanistan in a non-combative role.

'Plans on Afghanistan'

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed eagerness to remove forces from Afghanistan, said this week that the US military role in the country has effectively turned into a "ridiculous" police force.

He also singled out India and Pakistan as he urged other countries to assume the battle against armed groups.

The US invaded Afghanistan 18 years ago, seeking to remove the Taliban for sheltering al-Qaeda in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Last month, Trump argued he could easily win the Afghan war - Washington's longest military engagement abroad - by wiping out the country but added he did not "want to kill 10 million people".

"I have plans on Afghanistan that, if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. It would be gone," Trump told reporters. "It would be over in - literally, in 10 days. And I don't want to do, I don't want to go that route."

The comment drew a stiff response from Afghanistan's presidential palace which demanded his comments be clarified.

A record 3,804 Afghan civilians were killed last year due in part to stepped-up air attacks by US-led forces and an increased number of suicide bombings, the United Nations said in a February report. </s> Doha - The United States and the Afghan Taliban have resumed peace talks in Qatar to try to conclude an agreement that would bring an end to the longest US overseas military intervention.

The crucial ninth round of talks in the yearlong dialogue process got under way Thursday in the Qatari capital of Doha amid expectations it will lead to the much-awaited peace agreement between the two adversaries.

The talks come a day after clashes with Taliban insurgents in northern Afghanistan killed two American soldiers, bringing the number of US military fatalities in the country this year to 14, exceeding the 2018 total.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the special reconciliation envoy for Afghanistan, is leading the American side while Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanekzai is heading insurgent negotiators, said a Taliban spokesman. “Head of occupation forces Scott Miller was also present in these negotiations,” Zabihullah Mujahid said, referring to the American commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Khalilzad will travel to Kabul for meetings with the Afghan leadership after concluding the meeting in Doha.

The Afghan-born chief US negotiator tweeted before leaving Washington on Tuesday that “we will try and close on remaining issues. We’re ready. Let’s see if the Taliban are as well.”

The deal, if reached, would require Washington to announce a timeline for withdrawing US-led foreign troops from the country. In return, the Taliban will give guarantees they will not allow transnational terrorists to use Afghan soil for attacks against other countries.

The agreement would pave the way for talks among the Taliban and Afghan stakeholders, including representatives of the government in Kabul. Those talks will focus on a permanent cease-fire and issues related to future governance in Afghanistan. </s> KABUL (Reuters) - The United States and the Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar on Thursday to firm up a deal enabling the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in return for the Taliban security guarantees, the Taliban and senior U.S. official said.

After 18 years of war and months of direct talks with the Taliban leaders, the United States appears to be at the cusp of reaching a deal that could allow a pullout of foreign forces followed by a ceasefire between the warring sides.

Two Taliban spokesmen said the ninth round of talks between the United States and the Taliban representatives started on Thursday evening, and a senior U.S. official privy to the peace negotiations said the “crucial meeting iron out smaller details had begun” in Qatar’s capital city, Doha.

About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are now in Afghanistan as part of a U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some U.S. forces carry out counter-terrorism operations.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. military role in Afghanistan has basically turned into a “ridiculous” police force in a sign that he is open to a U.S. troop drawdown there after 18 years of war.

Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born U.S. diplomat who has been leading the negotiations with the Taliban since last year is scheduled to travel to Kabul after his talks with the Taliban officials.

“Khalilzad will inform the top Afghan leaders about the peace deal and then finalize a declaration to end the war in Afghanistan,” the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

The two sides have held discussions over a potential agreement on four key issues: a Taliban guarantee that it will not allow foreign militants to use Afghanistan as a launchpad to conduct attacks outside the country, the complete withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces, an intra-Afghan dialogue and a permanent ceasefire.

The Taliban now control more territory than at any point since the United States bombed them out of power in 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda, the group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

It has demanded a complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and has rejected holding direct talks with the Afghan government.

President Ashraf Ghani who is seeking reelection in September said on Thursday the Afghan government would be present in any potential peace negotiations with the Taliban as they move to another phase of the process.

Two American service members were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan to at least 14 in 2019. </s> PESHAWAR: Senior members of the Afghan Taliban said they resumed peace talks with the US in Doha on Thursday, adding they were optimistic about success of the negotiations.

Pleading anonymity, a member of the Taliban negotiating team in Qatar said that all their senior leaders and members of the peace council held lengthy sessions before start of the meeting with the US delegation.

Taliban spokesmen in Doha, Suhail Shaheen and Zabihullah Mujahid in Afghanistan confirmed that the 9th round of the peace talks with the US began on Thursday.

“We resumed peace talks with the US today on August 22 in Doha. Maulvi Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai led the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) while Zalmay Khalilzad represented the US delegation in talks,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.

He said the US military commander in Afghanistan General Scott Miller also participated in the talks.

A senior Taliban leader and member of the negotiations team said they had already resolved major issues with the US and hoped a peace agreement could be signed before conclusion of the current session.

“We are hopeful this time as we have already discussed all issues in detail with them (US) and could sign the peace accord if they proved sincerity in talks. I must say we resolved most of the major issues and hurdles in the talks and there should be no problem in the ongoing session,” said the Taliban leader.

Pleading anonymity, he said the Taliban shura, headed by their supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, and their Qatar-based Political Commission, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, spoke in detail and discussed all matters related to the peace talks.

“Our negotiation team is well prepared and they have the authority to make decisions. But the question remains whether the US officials would make unrealistic demands,” he said.

According to Taliban sources, US officials were willing to announce the withdrawal plan of their forces from Afghanistan but in return they wanted Taliban to declare a ceasefire across the country. Taliban rejected this demand. </s> PESHAWAR: Senior members of the Afghan Taliban said they resumed peace talks with the US in Doha on Thursday, adding they were optimistic about success of the negotiations.

Pleading anonymity, a member of the Taliban negotiating team in Qatar said that all their senior leaders and members of the peace council held lengthy sessions before start of the meeting with the US delegation.

Taliban spokesmen in Doha, Suhail Shaheen and Zabihullah Mujahid in Afghanistan confirmed that the 9th round of the peace talks with the US began on Thursday.

“We resumed peace talks with the US today on August 22 in Doha. Maulvi Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai led the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) while Zalmay Khalilzad represented the US delegation in talks,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.

He said the US military commander in Afghanistan General Scott Miller also participated in the talks.

A senior Taliban leader and member of the negotiations team said they had already resolved major issues with the US and hoped a peace agreement could be signed before conclusion of the current session.

“We are hopeful this time as we have already discussed all issues in detail with them (US) and could sign the peace accord if they proved sincerity in talks. I must say we resolved most of the major issues and hurdles in the talks and there should be no problem in the ongoing session,” said the Taliban leader. Pleading anonymity, he said the Taliban shura, headed by their supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, and their Qatar-based Political Commission, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, spoke in detail and discussed all matters related to the peace talks.

“Our negotiation team is well prepared and they have the authority to make decisions. But the question remains whether the US officials would make unrealistic demands,” he said.

According to Taliban sources, US officials were willing to announce the withdrawal plan of their forces from Afghanistan but in return they wanted Taliban to declare a ceasefire across the country. Taliban rejected this demand.

“We told them we would announce a ceasefire in the areas from where the US troops are withdrawn. Also, we made a commitment to announce ceasefire but they would need to stop all type of military operations against Taliban in Afghanistan,” said the Taliban leader in Qatar.

Also, Taliban said the US wanted Taliban to give them more than a year for withdrawal which they didn’t accept.

Taliban agreed on a six-month period for US to withdraw all its forces from Afghanistan.

“Let’s see what happens this time. We agreed on the intra- Afghan dialogue after signing the peace agreement with the US. However, we made it clear to the US that we would not hold direct peace talks with the Afghan government,” he added. </s> Kabul, Afghanistan -- The Afghan Taliban and the United States have resumed high-level talks in Doha, Qatar, aimed at ending America's longest involvement in any war. The U.S. envoy to the Afghanistan peace talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, has met the Taliban's political leader and co-founder of the Islamic insurgency, whose mere presence in this round of talks could indicate headway. But even as the talks enter a new, more serious phase, the Taliban is preparing its forces to wage war.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is a respected figure among the Taliban. He is thought to bring decision making authority to the negotiating table. He arrived in Doha "after a formal invitation by the Foreign Minister of Qatar and in a private airplane sent by" Qatar, "where he was warmly received," according to a statement released by the Taliban.

The objective of this round of talks is to hammer out some of the details of a broad "roadmap" for peace that was discussed in previous meetings. At the heart of the negotiations is when, and under what circumstances the U.S. will pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

The conversation has taken place thus far with the notable absence of any Afghan government representatives. The Taliban refuses to meet Afghan government officials, as it considers the administration a puppet regime of the United States.

Nazar Muhammad Mutamaeen, a political analyst and former official under the Taliban regime toppled by the U.S. invasion in 2001, told CBS News that "the difference in this round of talks" is Baradar's presence.

The elder militant was once the deputy of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader who died in 2013. He was freed by Pakistan -- in an effort to boost the peace talks -- after more than a decade in prison following his 2010 arrest by U.S. and Pakistani forces.

Mutamaeen said that with Baradar at the table, "the current Taliban representatives taking part in the negotiations are powerful and authoritative… capable of making decisions without wasting time going back to their leaders."

Khalilzad said on Tuesday, after meeting Baradar, that the talks represented a "significant moment."

The biggest point still under negotiation is the timetable for the withdrawal of the roughly 12,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan -- and in return, when the Taliban will agree to guarantee that Afghan territory will not be used as a terrorist safe haven to plot attacks on the United States or its allies.

When in the process the Taliban will accept a ceasefire and stop attacking Afghan forces -- and engage in direct talks with the Afghan government -- are also key topics on the agenda.

The talks in Qatar were scheduled to go through Wednesday, but they could be extended if needed.

"Once an agreement is made in the external aspect of talks, which is the pull-out of foreign forces, then we can speak about the internal aspect of peace talks with the Afghan government," said Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha.

While the U.S.-Taliban discussions may be gaining steam, Shaheen said there was currently no plan to cancel the group's annual spring offensive against Afghan and allied forces.

"Only if an agreement is reached, and an Islamic government is formed to include all Afghans, will we neither need a spring offensive nor be required to fight," Shaheen said.

The Afghan government, sidelined from the ongoing talks to end the 18-year war, is planning to hold a grand council of tribal elders next month that would include between 2,000 and 3,000 representatives from across the country. The objective would be for the government to get feedback to start laying down the parameters of any eventual talks with the Taliban.

President Ashraf Ghani, who is seeking a second term in elections to be held in July, said in his nomination speech that he would, "work for peace on behalf of a dignified and a painful nation, but we will not beg for peace from anyone."

The United Nations released a report this week which shows the extent to which regular Afghans have borne the brunt of the suffering through this war. Among other grim statistics, the report found "the highest recorded number of boys and girls killed in the conflict during a single year" in 2018.

In total, the UN's Afghan mission said 3,804 civilians were killed last year alone, and another 7,189 injured left injured, "representing a five percent increase in overall civilian casualties and an 11 percent increase in civilian deaths compared to 2017."

The U.N. blamed 63 percent of those casualties on "Anti-Government Elements (AGEs)," with the Taliban's owning a 37 percent share of the violence. </s> DOHA: The US and the Taliban said they would return to talks in Qatar on Friday (Aug 23) aimed at bringing a close to Afghanistan's 18-year conflict.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a media WhatsApp group that day two of the ninth round of negotiations in Doha would "restart after evening prayers and will continue till late evening".

A State Department official told AFP that US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and his team "have made progress on advancing a peace process".

But the official added that "we do not have an estimate for how long it may take to close out the remaining issues."

A source close to the US negotiating team earlier confirmed to AFP that talks would resume Friday afternoon.

The US, which invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban in 2001, wants to withdraw thousands of troops but only in return for the insurgent group renouncing Al-Qaeda and curbing attacks.

Washington is hoping to strike an agreement with the Taliban by Sep 1 - ahead of Afghan polls due the same month, and US presidential polls due in 2020.

Taliban lead negotiator Abbas Stanikzai told AFP Thursday that talks had been "going well".

The talks are expected to focus on establishing a timeline for the US withdrawal of its more than 13,000 troops.

"We've been there for 18 years, it's ridiculous," US President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday.

"We are negotiating with the government and we are negotiating with the Taliban," he added.

"We have good talks going and we will see what happens."

But thorny issues remain unresolved, including power-sharing with the Taliban, the role of regional powers including Pakistan and India, and the fate of Afghanistan's incumbent administration.
A ninth round of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban starts in Doha, Qatar.