Ghani’s US visit postponed over protest against peace deal

KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has postponed a planned visit to Washington during which he was to discuss the US-Taliban talks aimed at ending the nearly 18-year war in Afghanistan, officials say.

An Afghan cabinet minister who asked not to be named said that the trip was delayed "by the US government because of Mr Ghani's opposition" to the text of a draft peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban.

The report said the president was originally due to travel to Washington on September 7 with a delegation for talks with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on September 9.

The development emerged after the US envoy negotiating with the Taliban, Zalmay Khalilzad, briefed Afghan officials in Kabul on an agreement "in principle" the two sides had reached following nine rounds of talks in Qatar.

On September 5, reports said Khalilzad abruptly returned to the Qatari capital, Doha, for more talks with the militant group. The Taliban has so far rejected negotiations with the Afghan government, seeing it as a puppet of the United States.

While US and Taliban negotiators appeared to be closing in on an accord to end the fighting, the militant group has been stepping up operations across Afghanistan in recent days.

Early on September 6, the Taliban launched an offensive against the western Afghan city of Farah -- the third provincialcapital to come under attack in less than a week. The militant fighters briefly seized an Afghan Army recruitment center in the capital of Farah Province, officials say.

With US support, Afghan forces pushed the attackers back a few hours later, local police spokesman Mohibullah Mohib said, adding that fighting was continuing on the outskirts of the city.

Ghulam Mohddin Khairkhah, Farah's provincial security chief, said that the fighting around the city was sporadic. Ten Taliban militants were killed in the fighting, along with one paramilitary Afghan police officer.