Barada­r was releas­ed from a Pakist­ani jail in Octobe­rDOHA: The latest round of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban will begin in Doha this week and include Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Qatar said on Sunday, despite earlier reports suggesting his absence. The talks are expected to centre around a ceasefire to end America’s longest war and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, and are expected begin on Feb. 25, according to diplomatic sources. The talks will be led on the US side by United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, the foreign ministry statement said. Some 14,000 US troops are based in Afghanistan as part of a US-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Tens of thousands of members of the Afghan security forces and an unknown number of insurgents have also died.

Source: The Express Tribune February 24, 2019 18:11 UTC