Taliban official reports progress in talks with U.S.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States and the Taliban have resolved differences in peace talks over the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and guarantees from the insurgents that they will cut ties with other extremist groups, a Taliban official said Tuesday.

The U.S. side did not provide details about the latest round of talks held in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office. But Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy who has been leading the talks since they began late last year, tweeted that they had made “excellent progress.”

The two sides have been meeting for the past two days.

The Taliban official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss details of the negotiations.

Khalilzad, who has been tasked with finding a peaceful resolution to the nearly 18-year war — America’s longest conflict — has made intra-afghan talks and a permanent cease-fire priorities. But the Taliban have continued to sideline the Kabul government, dismissing it as a U.S. puppet.

The Taliban have kept up a near-daily rate of deadly attacks despite holding several rounds of peace talks with Khalilzad since his appointment almost a year ago. The Taliban control roughly half of Afghanistan and are at their strongest since 2001, when the U.s.-led invasion toppled their government after it harbored al-qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Khalilzad has said he is hoping for a final agreement by Sept. 1 that would allow the roughly 20,000 U.S. and NATO forces to leave.