The Taliban officially confirmed that their senior leaders like Sher Mohammad Abas Stanekzai, along with others like Mawalwi Salam Hanafi, Shuhabuddin Delawar, Qari Deen Moh. Hanif, Zahed Ahmadzai, & Sohail Shaheen met with US envoy Zalmay Khalizad at Doha on Friday.
As per Taliban’s brief about the meeting, the group expressed to Khalizad that there needs to be an end to the “foreign occupation” of Afghanistan. The two sides also had a discussion over a peaceful solution.
According to the Taliban representatives, foreign troops presence in the country posed as a major obstacle to peace there.
It was also confirmed that the two sides decided to meet more often in the future.
This statement comes after there were reports of the two sides meeting in Doha but the same had not been confirmed by the US State Department.
On Saturday morning, Zalmay Khalizad paid another quick visit to Kabul to hold a meeting that was held in Presidential Palace, in which he stated that the US is ready to cooperate on peace in an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process and would continue to its efforts in this regard, according to a statement from the palace.
In response, President Ghani also expressed gratitude and said that he welcomes the US envoy’s stance towards sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan.
