KABUL officials.
US ambassador to NATO, Kay Hatchison, tweeted that she met with Khalilzad and NATO commander in Afghanistan Gen. Scott Miller and they discussed the Afghan peace process.
She said NATO and allies remained committed to their military and diplomatic efforts to help bring the war in Afghanistan to an end and create conditions for Afghans to come together to negotiate a lasting peace.
Khalilzad, who met Taliban leaders in Qatar early in January, was expected to sign a deal with the insurgent group, but he returned without reaching any results with the Taliban.
As talks continued between the two sides, Taliban attacked Bagram Military Base housing US forces with a powerful car bombing, which led to problems in negotiations.
The US asked the Taliban to decide about ceasefire and reduction in violence. The Taliban delegation then traveled to Pakistan and discussed ceasefire with leaders there, but the outcome of their discussion is not known as yet.
On the other hand, the Afghan government opposes the idea of violence reduction by the Taliban and said such approaches were impractical and had legal issues. The government emphasis on ceasefire.
There were speculations that Khalilzad would visit Kabul after his talks with the Taliban in Qatar, but he chose to travel to Belgium.
mds/ma
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