Taliban say new intra-Afghan peace talks to be held in China

The Taliban say a fresh round of intra-Afghan peace talks is to be held in China next week. The announcement raises hopes for renewed negotiations, even as violence surges in Afghanistan's 18-year war.

Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, said Tuesday that the talks are planned for October 28 and 29. A day earlier, the US State Department said its peace envoy started a fresh round of talks with European, NATO and UN allies about ending the war.

Zalmay Khalilzad will later meet with Russian and Chinese representatives "to discuss shared interests in seeing the war in Afghanistan come to an end." An earlier round of peace talks between the US and the Taliban collapsed in September.