US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad meets Afghan Taliban delegation

A Taliban delegation met US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday.

According to sources, the first known contact between the two sides since US President Donald Trump called off talks last month.

Trump halted the talks, which aimed at a plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban security guarantees, following the death of a US soldier and 11 others in a bomb attack in Kabul.

According to the report, the sources claimed that the meeting held at US Embassy located in Diplomatic Enclave of Islamabad which ran more than an hour on Thursday.

The US Embassy in Islamabad and the State Department in Washington declined to comment on whether there had been a meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here that a five-member delegation headed by the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is staying in Islamabad since last three days.

A 12-member delegation of the Afghan Taliban under the leadership of Mullah Baradar had arrived in Pakistan on October 2.

Earlier, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Faisal stated that Afghan Taliban delegation agreed to review progress under the stalled US-Taliban peace talks.

The meeting with senior Afghan Taliban delegation was led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, Foreign Affairs Secretary Sohail Mahmood and other FO officials were present for the meeting.

According to the Foreign Office, this is the first visit of a Taliban delegation to Pakistan since the establishment of the TPC.