This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
July 23, 2019 - US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad will leave next Monday for a mission that will last through August 1, as part of an overall effort to facilitate a peace process that ends the conflict in Afghanistan, the State Department announced.
His trip will take him to the Afghan capital, Kabul, where he will discuss the next steps in the peace process with the Afghan government, including identifying a national negotiating team that can participate in intra-Afghan negotiations.
Forming such a team is a contentious issue, as the Taliban refuse to negotiate directly with the Afghan government.
After meeting with the Afghan government, Khalilzad will travel to Doha, where he will resume talks with the Taliban.
Washington is hoping for a political agreement with the insurgents ahead of the Afghan presidential election scheduled for late September.
A breakthrough could pave the way for a withdrawal of international troops some 18 years after the 9/11 attacks, which led the US to launch a massive offensive to dislodge the Taliban government from Kabul.
