Top US general met with Taliban negotiators in Doha, Qatar this week todiscuss the reduction of violence in Afghanistan, according to a JointChiefs of Staff (JCS) statement released Thursday.
Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of JCS, along with negotiators from theSpecial Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, sat down at a tablewith Taliban representatives “as part of the military channel establishedin the U.S.-Taliban agreement,” Spokeswoman Cmdr. Sarah Flaherty said.
Milley underlined the need for an “immediate reduction of violence andaccelerate progress towards a negotiated political solution whichcontributes to regional stability and safeguards U.S. national interests,”Flaherty added.
Earlier this month, the Afghan government and the Taliban confirmed thatthe procedure for intra-Afghan talks has been finalized, a development thathas been widely welcomed.
The announcement marked the first major breakthrough since talks betweenthe Kabul government and the Taliban started in Doha on Sept. 12.
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The talks are aimed at ending the nearly two-decade-long conflict followinga landmark peace deal between the US and the Taliban inked earlier inFebruary that calls for the withdrawal of all foreign troops fromAfghanistan.
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