Taliban leaders to hold talks with US special peace envoy Khalilzad in Qatar

Senior Taliban leaders are holding a new round of talks in Qatar on Monday with Washington’s special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, as US efforts intensify to find a negotiated solution to Afghanistan’s 17-year war. The Taliban representatives, some of whom arrived in Doha, Qatar’s capital, from Pakistan the previous night, raised expectations ahead of talks with Khalilzad. “There is a possibility we will reach some results,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AP. Past rounds have focused on the withdrawal of US troops, which has been a standing Taliban demand, and guarantees that Afghanistan will not be used again as a staging area for terrorist attacks on the US.