Pompeo and Taliban chief discuss Eid ceasefire and peace talks

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video conference on Monday with the Taliban’s deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen released a photo of Mr Pompeo speaking on video to Mr Baradar.

They discussed the start of intra-Afghan talks, political progress after a three-day ceasefire during Eid Al Adha, and the release of Taliban prisoners by the government.

This was the second call in four weeks between Mr Pompeo and the Taliban official.

The news came days after US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad visited Qatar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Norway, and Bulgaria.

The negotiations were scheduled to start this week.

In his visit, the US envoy pressed “for resolution of the remaining issues ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations, specifically final prisoner exchanges and reduced violence”.

In Oslo and Sofia, Mr Khalilzad updated Nato members on the Afghan peace process.

The US has been encouraged by the ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan government and the release of 317 prisoners from the group last week.

The steps fell short in timing and numbers from what was announced in the US-Taliban agreement on February 29. But the US was still hoping for full implementation of the agreement and eventual withdrawal of its troops.

Last month, the Pentagon announced a drop in the number of troops in Afghanistan to 8,600 from about 12,000.

A Pentagon report last month cast doubt on the Taliban’s commitment to ending violence and severing ties with Al Qaeda in the region.

In June, The New York Times reported that Russian operatives allegedly made payments to Taliban militants to attack US troops, but US President Donald Trump did not confirm these reports.

Last week, Mr Trump told Axios website that he did not discuss the issue of the alleged bounties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called it “fake news”.