U.S., Taliban to Form ‘Technical Teams’ for Implementing Qatar Agreements

The United States and the Taliban would soon establish technical commissions for implementing the agreements being made in their recent meeting in Qatar, sources close the Taliban told Ariana News on Thursday.

The U.S.-Taliban’s another round of talks is set for February 25, after a draft pact was reached to potentially end the war in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman confirmed to Ariana News, adding that this round of talks would focus on declaring a timeline for withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

The Taliban said that in the due meeting, they would provide a guarantee that they will fight against Al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan.

The Taliban also told Ariana News that after American troops’ pullout, the armed group will hold talks with Afghan politicians and political parties, adding that the talks would focus on formation of a future government in the country.

Rejecting the proposal of an interim government, the Taliban stressed that they are not going to offer any role to the current government when they negotiate the political parties.

According to sources, the Taliban even have asked Afghan political parties to introduce a negotiating team to begin face-to-face talks with their representatives.

Separately, sources close to the Taliban said that the United States and the Taliban would soon establish technical teams for implementing the agreements being made in their recent meeting in Qatar.

The Afghan government, however, said that they would not accept the agreements being reached between the U.S. and the Taliban in closed doors. 

It comes as U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad this week said that in his Qatar talks, he has reached to “agreements in principle” on key issues for a peace deal that would end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.