KABUL – A Taliban delegation has met with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad inQatar to discuss ending the Afghan conflict, the militant group saidSaturday, in the first official confirmation of talks between the two sides.

The meeting with Khalilzad and other American officials took place in Dohaon Friday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement sent tojournalists.

The Taliban had reportedly met with US officials in July after anunprecedented ceasefire in June which fuelled hopes that negotiations couldbring an end to fighting after 17 years. The meeting was not confirmed onthe record by either side.

But a wave of attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State group in recentmonths has poured cold water on the nascent optimism for peace.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the Talibanstatement.

During the latest meeting, the Taliban told Khalilzad that the presence offoreign forces in Afghanistan was a “big obstacle” to peace, Mujahid said.

Both sides “agreed to continue such meetings”. – APP/AFP