Some members of the Taliban delegation to Pakistan have stayed in the South Asian country for 20 days after their official visit on October 2, returning to Qatar on Tuesday, well-informed government sources told Sputnik
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2019) Some members of the Taliban delegation to Pakistan have stayed in the South Asian country for 20 days after their official visit on October 2, returning to Qatar on Tuesday, well-informed government sources told Sputnik.
According to the sources, Mullah Mohammad Nabi Omari, Mullah Fazil, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar, one of the group's founders who led the delegation, were among those who stayed in Pakistan. The visit came after the group's peace talks with the United States broke off last month.
During their extended stay in Pakistan, the remaining members of the Taliban delegation have discussed some issues to solve a leadership conflict between them and their allies in the Pakistani city of Quetta, according to Sputnik sources.
"Some Taliban leaders from Afghanistan also traveled to Quetta to renew allegiance [with their allies there], and some of them expressed their desire for Mullah Beradar to become their leader. Many Taliban leaders have met with Mullah Beradar in Quetta," one of the sources said.
A Taliban spokesperson, however, denied that some members of the group's delegation stayed in Pakistan for additional 20 days.
"This is not true, our delegation to Pakistan has already returned to Qatar," Zabihullah Mujahid told Sputnik.
The US and the Taliban have for nearly a year been attempting to negotiate a peace deal that would ensure the withdrawal of foreign troops in exchange for the movement's guarantee that the country will not become a safe haven for terrorists. The talks, however, have excluded the Afghan government, as the Taliban considers it to be a US puppet. The latest round of talks in Doha finished on September 1. US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said that Washington and the Taliban were "on the threshold of an agreement."
On September 7, following an explosion in Kabul, US President Donald Trump said via Twitter that he canceled plans to hold secret Camp David talks with the Taliban leadership and Afghan leaders that were scheduled for the next day.
