Peace Mission Continues; Khalilzad Embarks on New round of Trip

Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will leave next Monday for the mission lasting through to August 1 “as part of an overall effort to facilitate a peace process that ends the conflict in Afghanistan,” the US State Department said in a statement.

Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will leave next Monday for the mission lasting through to August 1 “as part of an overall effort to facilitate a peace process that ends the conflict in Afghanistan,” the US State Department said in a statement.

In the capital Kabul, he will discuss with the Afghan government the “next steps in the peace process, including identifying a national negotiating team that can participate in intra-Afghan negotiations,” the statement added.
He will then travel to Doha, where “he will resume talks with the Taliban,” the State Department said.

After the end of the seventh round of peace talks, Mr Khalilzad said that this round of “talks have been the most productive session to date.”
Then, the Taliban and other senior Afghan officials held intra-Afghan talks in the Qatari capital, where Taliban pledged to “reduce violence” in Afghanistan.
During the conference, Taliban agreed not to storm educational centers, schools, markets, dams, mosques and the civilian’s work place.

The US negotiator has had several meetings with the Taliban in the past year.