ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s chief peace envoy Dr Abdullah Abdullah has saidPakistani leaders had ‘promised’ during his three-day visit to Islamabadthis week to help convince the Afghan Taliban to agree to a ceasefire, amajor sticking point in ongoing negotiations between the insurgent groupand the Kabul government aimed at ending decades of war.

Taliban offensives in the war-torn country have continued even as Afghanand Taliban negotiators began meeting in Doha on September 12, hoping toagree on a ceasefire and a power-sharing deal.

Pakistan has been considered key in pushing the Taliban to the table fortalks, and both Kabul and Washington are now urging the South Asian nationto use its influence over the insurgent group to make them agree to moreconcessions.

In an interview with foreign media before leaving Islamabad on Wednesdayevening, Abdullah, the chief of Afghanistan’s High Council for NationalReconciliation, said civil and military leaders he met in Pakistan hadagreed that the key to peace in Afghanistan was the Taliban agreeing to a“reduction in violence, leading to a ceasefire.”