No progress in Doha talks for Afghan peace

There has been no progress in the Afghanistan peace negotiations in Doha as formal meetings between the two sides comprising representatives of the Kabul government and Taliban, have remained suspended for the past 10 days.

Despite recent diplomatic efforts, the two sides were yet to reach a conclusion about the procedural rules intended to kick start the direct peace negotiations aimed at ending the decades-long war in Afghanistan, TOLO News reported on Saturday.

Since the intra-Afghan talks were formally launched on September 12, two sides have agreed on 18 out of 20 articles for the procedural rules.

But two main articles — religious basis for the talks and connection of the US-Taliban deal with the negotiations — remain unsolved.

The Taliban has not made an official comment about the resumption of the talks, but the government team has said that the negotiation will continue until the two sides reach a settlement.

This comes days after US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said he expects the Afghan peace process to be concluded in months, not years.

On Saturday, Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said that an early withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan will have some impacts on the ongoing peace process and the country's situation, TOLO News reported.

But he also said that Afghans should be ready for any type of conditions and that they should work for their future together..