Afghan Taliban to meet US officials for talks in Qatar

Taliban representatives are to meet US officials in Qatar for possible peace talks on Afghanistan, sources from the militant group told AFP on Thursday.
There have been several fruitless attempts at dialogue in recent years between the Taliban and the United States, the Kabul government's chief supporter, aimed at ending the 13-year conflict in Afghanistan.
The Taliban opened an office in Qatar in June 2013 as the first move towards a possible peace deal, but it shut a month later after enraging the then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai by styling itself as an unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.
"Five former members of the supreme council of the Afghan Taliban, headed by Tayyab Agha, will hold talks with the US," a senior Taliban cadre based in Pakistan told AFP.
No timeframe for the talks was immediately available.
A senior member of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban's governing council, confirmed the news, saying Karzai's departure as president had helped clear the way.
"This time the Taliban will speak to Americans face to face in Qatar, this is what Karzai was afraid of, he did not want Americans to represent the Afghan government," the commander told AFP.
Main Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the delegation is in Qatar and said he would give more details later.