Afghan govt, Taliban: two sides to meet again, expedite talks

The delegations of the Afghan government and Taliban issued a joint statement on Sunday saying that they will meet again and that they have issued instructions to expedite their peace negotiations, Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV reported.

The two delegations of negotiators, who have been in Doha since Saturday, said “the two sides committed to continue negotiations at a high level until a settlement is reached.”

“We will work to provide humanitarian assistance throughout Afghanistan,” the statement added, according to Al Jazeera.

Two decades of conflict have taken a turn for the worse as US-led international forces withdraw and the Taliban launch offensives around Afghanistan, taking districts and border crossings while encircling provincial capitals.

In the latest impact of fighting, around 12,000 families in northern Takhar province have had to flee their homes as fighting continues, local officials said.

More than 2,000 people were displaced in Kandahar this month, according to the United Nations’ humanitarian agency, and Kandahar’s provincial governor on Friday evening declared a curfew in Kandahar city at night due to the fighting.

The UN refugee agency estimates 270,000 Afghans have been displaced inside the country since January, bringing the number of people forced from their homes to more than 3.5 million.