US sends Special Rep. Zalmay Khalilzad for peace talks ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations

In an attempt to push for peace talks between Taliban fighters and the Afghan government, the United States sent its Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SRAR), Zalmay Khalilzad on a trip to Kabul on Saturday, July 25.

The US diplomat is also scheduled to make a stopover in at least 4 other places -- Doha, Islamabad, Oslo, and Sofia, the US Department of State said in an official statement. 

Ambassador Khalilzad will press to facilitate extensive talks for a political settlement in Afghanistan as well on issues such as final prisoner exchanges and violence ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations.  

"The parties are closer than ever to the start of Intra-Afghan Negotiations, the key next step to ending Afghanistan’s 40-year long war. Although significant progress has been made on prisoner exchanges, the issue requires additional effort to fully resolve," the US Department of State said in a press release.  

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Earlier on July 14, Khalilzad condemned an attack led by the government forces in Shahrak district of western Afghanistan's Ghor province bordering Iran that killed 45 people, which included civilians and key Taliban commander Mullah Khaksar.

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US military troops pulled out

Earlier this month, several thousand US military troops were withdrawn out of five bases in Afghanistan as the Pentagon fulfilled its obligation to the peace agreement reached with the Taliban in Qatar.

An estimated 8,600 troops were deployed as the remaining defence forces were pulled out from the military bases in Helmand, Uruzgan, Paktika, and Laghman provinces, in southern and eastern Afghanistan on July 14, military personnel told a state broadcaster on condition of anonymity. 

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