Taliban-US Talks in Qatar Feature No Third-Party Attendees - Spokesman

No third-party representatives have attended the ongoing US-Taliban talks, except for representative of Qatar, which is hosting the negotiations, a spokesman for Taliban’s political office in Doha said on Monday.

The eighth round of peace talks between the Taliban and the United States started on Saturday in Doha. US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has expressed optimism over the outcome of the talks that could allow Washington to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

"In ongoing peace talks, except for Qatar’s representative, no other foreign representatives have neither attended nor have come to attend", Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.

The United States and its allies launched a military operation in Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, which were staged by the al-Qaeda terrorist group, backed by then Taliban-led government of Afghanistan.

The Taliban and the United States are trying to reach a peace deal to include the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and assurances from the Taliban that the country will not be used as a safe harbor for terrorists.

Afghanistan is suffering from an unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban and Daesh terrorist group. The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces regularly conduct joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country with support from the international coalition.