The Taliban have announced that concluding points of the US-Taliban agreement will be finalized between representatives of the two sides today, August 27, in their 9th round of direct talks.
Suhail Shaheen, spokesperson for Taliban’s Doha office, said in a tweet that their negotiations with the US representatives would continue until 10:30 AM today. “We try to finalize the last points of the agreement,” he added.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, however, has not commented in this regard.
The 9th round of direct talks between the US and the Taliban began on Thursday, August 22.
There is no report about details of the progress made during the talks.
Khalilzad, however, has rejected a recent report by the Reuters in which two Taliban commanders claimed that as part of the agreement the US would cease supporting the Afghan security and defense forces.
“No one should be intimidated or fooled by propaganda! Let me be clear: We will defend Afghan forces now and after any agreement w[ith] the Talibs,” he said in a tweet late Monday.
On the other hand, in the sideline of G7 conference in Paris, President Trump, announced, “No timeline. Whatever it is, no rush. We’re there, we’re really a peacekeeping force more than anything else, frankly.”