AMN/ WEB DESK
Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks. The two sides have been meeting on and off for months in the Qatari capital, but the talks have lost momentum as the insurgents have made battlefield gains. Several high-ranking officials, including former Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, gathered in a hotel today after morning prayers.
They were joined by negotiators from the Taliban’s political office in Doha. According to sources, former president Hamid Karzai had also been due to travel to Doha but remained in Kabul. The high level delegation is in Doha to talk to both sides, guide them and support the government negotiating team in terms of speeding up the talks and have progress, said Najia Anwari, the spokeswoman for the Afghan government negotiating team in Doha.
The Taliban have capitalised on the last stages of the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops from Afghanistan to launch a series of lightning offensives across the country.
Pakistan partially reopened its side of the southern border crossing with Afghanistan, today, shut after the Taliban seized control of the strategic Afghan frontier town of Spin Boldak from government forces last week.
There have been weeks of intensifying fighting across Afghanistan, with the Taliban pressing multiple offensives and overrunning dozens of districts at a staggering rate.