Kabul
The Taliban will implement a 10-day ceasefire with US troops, a reduction in violence with Afghan forces and discussions with Afghan government officials if it reaches an agreement with US negotiators in talks in Doha, two sources have said.
If an agreement is reached, the move could revive hopes for a long-term solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
The news comes a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the Taliban have shown “a willingness” to reduce violence in war-torn Afghanistan after more than 18 years fighting the US, sparking speculation that a potential breakthrough in talks with the Americans may be near.
Taliban and US negotiation teams met on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the signing of a peace deal, according to a spokesman for the Taliban office in Doha, Qatar.
The talks between the two sides were “useful” and would continue for a few days, the spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, said in a tweet early on Friday.
The stop-start talks between Taliban militants and the United States to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan were called off in September of last year by US President Donald Trump after an American soldier was killed in an attack by the Taliban.
