Iran Press/ Asia: The US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad announced on Thursday that the talks are briefly paused after a Taliban attack near Bagram airfield this week, NBC News reported.
"When I met the Talibs today, I expressed outrage about yesterday’s attack on Bagram, which recklessly killed two and wounded dozens of civilians," Zalmay Khalilzad, US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, tweeted according to Al Jazeera.
On Friday, Zalmay Khalilzad said the talks in the Qatari capital Doha would resume after the Taliban "consult their leadership on this essential topic".
"Taliban must show they are willing & [and] able to respond to Afghan desire for peace," he said in a tweet.
A powerful suicide bombing Wednesday targeted a medical facility near the main American Bagram Air Base north of the capital Kabul, the US military said.
There were conflicting reports immediately after the explosion, but the US military said in a statement that the attacker targeted a gate of the base. There were no coalition casualties and the base remains secure, the statement said.
No coalition service members were killed in Wednesday's attack, in which Taliban fighters attempted to breach Bagram airfield north of Kabul, but some were evaluated for minor injuries, a spokesman for the NATO-led 'Resolute Support' mission said.
Peace negotiations began earlier this year but were suspended in September after an American soldier was killed in a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban.
According to the US defense secretary, Mark Esper, 12,000 to 13,000 US troops are in Afghanistan. Since 2001 and the US invasion to the country to topple the Taliban, around 2,300 American service members have died there. 101/212
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