US says latest Taliban talks most productive so far

DOHA: The seventh round of peace talks between the United States and Afghanistan´s Taliban that are ongoing in Qatar are the "most productive" so far, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Saturday.

"These six days have been the most productive of the rounds we´ve had with the Talibs... we made progress on all the issues that we have been discussing," Khalilzad said in Qatar. The insurgents have been meeting with the US envoy in Doha to try to forge a deal that would see the US military quit Afghanistan in return for various guarantees.

Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban´s office in Qatar, said they were pleased with the discussions so far. "We are happy with progress and hope the rest of the work is also done. We have not faced any obstacles yet," he tweeted. But the talks are set to be paused for two days while another summit with Afghan representatives takes place in Qatar´s capital.