Washington’s top negotiator has said that United States and Taliban negotiators have agreed on a draft framework for a peace deal seeking to put an end to the seventeen year conflict in Afghanistan.
US negotiators held six days of talks with the Taliban in Qatar last week. The Afghan president has made a new call for direct talks with the Islamist group, but they have so far refused, dismissing the
government as “puppets”.
The group, which ruled the country from 1996 to 2001 and remained a top insurgent force, has their rule broken when the US invaded Afghanistan after al-Qaeda which had used the country as a base and carried out the September eleventh attacks in the US.
The US is exploring a full withdrawal of its troops in return for a ceasefire and a commitment by the Taliban to engage in direct talks with the Afghan government.
The Taliban say they will only begin negotiations with the government once a firm date for the withdrawal of US troops has been agreed.
According to United Nations figures, the seventeen year conflict has caused huge loss of life because between six thousand and eleven thousand civilians were been killed every year since 2009.
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