Zalmay Khalilzad meets Afghan Taliban delegation in Islamabad: report
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 04, 2019
ISLAMABAD: A Taliban delegation met US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday, two sources told Reuters, 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.
Read: Afghan Taliban delegation meets FM Qureshi, agrees on restarting peace talks
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.