US Embassy says Afghan leaders are close to talks with Taliban on ending war

The US Embassy in Pakistan announced Thursday that Afghanistan’s political leaders are close to starting negotiations with the Taliban about the future of the country, the Military Times reports. The development follows a peace agreement signed between the US and the Taliban in February this year. As part of the deal, US Peace Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is in the region to help facilitate intra-Afghan negotiations.

ISIS says it fired rockets on US base in Afghanistan

Islamic State–Khorasan (ISIS-K) claims it carried out Thursday’s rocket attack on Bagram airfield, the largest US base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties or injuries. Bagram’s NATO-led US military mission, Operation Resolute Support, confirmed in a tweet that five rockets were fired at the base early in the morning on Thursday.

Taliban: Peace Deal With US To Be Sealed by End of Feb

The Taliban appeared confident Monday it will sign a peace agreement with the United States by the end of this month in the presence of international guarantors to close the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan.

Taliban Envoys Visit Iran, Russia Following Collapse Of U.S. Talks

A four-member Taliban delegation has traveled to Tehran for talks with high-ranking Iranian officials — the second such trip by the militants to a foreign country just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that peace talks with the United States had collapsed.

Taliban suicide bombing kills 10, injures 42 near US Embassy in Kabul

A Taliban suicide car bomb rocked Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 10 civilians in a diplomatic area that also includes the US Embassy — the second such attack this week that underscored Afghan government warnings that a preliminary US-Taliban deal on ending America’s longest war was moving dangerously quickly.

Secretary of State Pompeo Declines to Sign Risky Afghan Peace Deal

The U.S. is closing in on a deal with the Taliban that is designed to wind down America’s 18-year war in Afghanistan, but the best indication of how risky the pact maybe is this: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is declining to sign it, according to senior U.S., Afghan and European officials.

U.S. to withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan, close bases

The United States would withdraw almost 5,000 troops from Afghanistan and close five bases within 135 days under a draft peace accord agreed with the Taliban, the chief U.S. negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad said on Monday.

U.S. Peace Envoy Heads To Qatar, Afghanistan For New Talks

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is heading to Qatar to resume talks with Taliban negotiators and to Kabul to meet with Afghan leaders, amid reports indicating a deal could be close to end the near 18-year war in Afghanistan.

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