KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2019) The representatives of the Taliban movement and the United States are set to begin the seventh round of their crucial negotiations in the Qatari capital city Doha on Saturday amid hopes for breakthrough.
"Tomorrow [Saturday], the negotiating delegation of Islamic Emirate will start the seventh round of peace talks with US officials in Qatar's capital, Doha," a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, wrote on Twitter on Friday.
The talks, which will mainly focus on the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, are considered to be crucial for achieving breakthrough in ending almost 20 years of war in the landlocked western Asian nation.
"The Taliban, United States are exhausted of war. The region, including Pakistan, wants economic development that cannot be done amid insecurity in the region," Babrak Khan, a Kabul-based analyst, told Sputnik.
He recalled that the Afghan government has so far been excluded from the US-Taliban talks.
"Pakistan has many times called for peace in Afghanistan which has not happened. This time it is the same, I do not think Pakistan will make Taliban hold direct talks with the Afghan government," the analyst added.
The seventh round of talks comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived for an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday. This was the first time Pompeo visited Kabul since the start of the US-Taliban peace negotiations.
