Progress on Afghan peace talks to be reviewed during Taliban visit: FO

Afghan Taliban's visit to Islamabad would provide the opportunity to review the progress made under US-Taliban peace talks so far, and discuss the possibilities of resuming the paused political settlement process in Afghanistan, Pakistan Foreign Office said on Wednesday.

The foreign office said in a statement that Pakistan extended an invitation to the Taliban's Political Commission in Doha for the visit.

The statement said program for the Taliban delegation's meeting with the foreign minister was being finalised.

A delegation of Afghan Taliban, headed by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has agreed to meet United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in Pakistan.

The delegation is said to have arrived in Islamabad and is likely to meet with US envoy Khalilzad, who arrived with a five-member delegation a day earlier.

According to sources, the Taliban said they did not back down from the talks, that broke down last month, but the US did. They added that their leadership is ready to meet the US envoy again.

Earlier, Afghan Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter that the delegation had been given a formal invitation and that they would discuss “important issues” with Pakistani officials during their visit.

Taliban officials have in recent days visited Russia, China, and Iran, with the latest stop on a tour of regional powers being Pakistan, after the Afghanistan peace process broke down.

The US and Taliban said last month that they were close to reaching a deal, despite concern among some US security officials and within the Afghan government that a US withdrawal could plunge the country into even more conflict.

But US President Donald Trump halted the talks following the death of a US soldier and 11 other people in a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul.