Afghan Taliban rule out talks with US in Pakistan

The Afghan Taliban on Saturday rejected Pakistani media reports of possible talks with the US in Islamabad and reiterated their refusal to deal directly with the Afghan government. The news of possible talks between the militants and Washington emerged on Friday following the visit of US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy on Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to Islamabad.

Refuting the media reports, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group will not hold any talks with the US in Pakistan, Efe news reported. He rejected the reports as rumours. The Pakistan media on Friday reported that a meeting between the Afghan Taliban and Khalilzad could be possible following his discussions with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other officials.

Report had also claimed that Islamabad had invited a delegation of over 10 Taliban leaders to attend the talks with Khalilzad on Saturday and Sunday. The US says that any settlement in Afghanistan must be between the government in Kabul and the Taliban. The Taliban, however, have so far refused to deal directly with the Afghan government, which they consider as "illegitimate".

Last month, Islamabad said it had arranged crucial peace talks between the US and the Taliban leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in the latest push to end the 17-year-long conflict in Afghanistan. Representatives from Pakistan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia also attended the meeting. The Taliban had also held talks with representatives from Iran in Tehran in December 2018, over Afghanistan situation.

The militants had earlier blamed the US of stalling the talks by refusing to withdraw foreign troops from Afghanistan.