Taliban Envoys Travel To Pakistan Over Afghan Peace Talks

Senior members of the Taliban’s political office based in Qatar have travelled to Islamabad to brief Pakistani officials about possible peace talks with the Afghan government, citing two sources within the Taliban the Guardian reported on Friday.

Three Taliban representatives left Doha to Islamabad on Wednesday to “discuss various topics, including peace talks, and share the latest information with Pakistan,” a senior official has told the Guardian.

According to the report, the men are Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar, a former ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Jan Muhammad Madani, a former foreign minister under the Taliban regime in the 1990s, and Mullah Abdul Salam, a former deputy education minister.

This comes after reports emerged that Taliban have held two rounds of secret talks in September and October in Doha with the Afghan intelligence chief Massoum Stanekzai and a senior US diplomat.

Pakistan has traditionally an influence over the Taliban movement as the country could manage to bring the group into the table for the first time in the Pakistani hill resort of Muree in July 2015. But the meetings did not succeed after the dead of Mullah Omar, the founder and the leader of the group emerged.

Taliban have not comment on the report yet.