*DOHA: The US and the Taliban will seek to thrash out elements of a deal tobring a close to Afghanistan’s 18-year conflict in the second day ofrenewed talks in Doha on Sunday.*

The US, which invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban in 2001, wants towithdraw thousands of troops and turn the page on its longest-ever war.

But it would first seek assurances from the insurgents that they wouldrenounce Al-Qaeda and stop other militants like the Islamic State groupusing the country as a haven.

The talks, now in their eighth round, began on Saturday and were due toresume Sunday morning after pausing overnight, US and Taliban sources toldAFP.

A Taliban source also said efforts were underway to organise a directmeeting between US envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Talibanco-founder Mullah Baradar, who heads the movement’s political wing.

A coalition led by Washington ousted the Taliban in late 2001 accusing itof harbouring Al-Qaeda jihadists who claimed the September 11 attacksagainst the US that killed almost 3,000 people.

But despite a rapid conclusion to the conventional phase of the war, theTaliban have proved formidable insurgents, bogging down US troops for years.

Washington is hoping to strike a peace deal with the Taliban by September 1— ahead of Afghan polls due the same month, and US presidential electionsdue in 2020.

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that“we’ve made a lot of progress. We’re talking”.

“We are pursuing a peace agreement not a withdrawal agreement, a peaceagreement that enables withdrawal,” Khalilzad tweeted on Friday as hearrived in Doha after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inIslamabad.

“Our presence in Afghanistan is conditions-based, and any withdrawal willbe conditions-based.”

In another sign of progress, the Afghan government has formed a negotiatingteam for separate peace talks with the Taliban that diplomats hope could beheld as early as later this month.‘Negotiations will be tough’

The Washington Post reported Thursday that an initial deal to end the warwould see the US force in Afghanistan reduced to as low as 8,000 from thecurrent level of around 14,000.

In exchange, the Taliban would abide by a ceasefire, renounce Al-Qaeda, andtalk to the Kabul administration.

An Afghan official hinted last week that the government of President AshrafGhani was preparing for direct talks with the Taliban, the details of whichhave yet to be announced.

“We have no preconditions to begin talks, but the peace agreement is notwithout conditions,” Ghani wrote in Pashto on his Facebook page on Fridayahead of the talks.

“We want a republic government not an emirate,” he said, a challenge to theTaliban which has insisted on reverting to the “Islamic Emirate” nameAfghanistan bore under its rule.

“The negotiations will be tough, and the Taliban should know that no Afghanis inferior in religion or courage to them.”

The thorny issues of power-sharing with the Taliban, the role of regionalpowers including Pakistan and India, and the fate of Ghani’s administrationalso remain unresolved.

The latest US-Taliban encounter follows last month’s talks betweeninfluential Afghans and the Taliban which agreed a “roadmap for peace” —but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Kabul resident Somaya Mustafa, 20, said her country desperately needed apeace deal, but only one in which the Taliban “accept women and theirachievements”.

“It is a total mess in our country right now. And if it continues, womenwill suffer more than anyone else.”

The United Nations has said that civilian casualty rates across Afghanistanmatched record levels last month, following a dip earlier in the year.