US steps up Taliban peace talks with role for former ambassador

The White House is seeking to put the weight of a former US ambassador behind peace talks by appointing Zalmay Khalilzad as its special envoy on Afghanistan.

It comes as the Taliban has intensified attacks against the Kabul government despite their earlier dialogue with a US diplomat in Qatar. Formal talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives started in 2015 in Islamabad, but they came to a stalemate.

Although recent talks have brought no changes in the decision of the Taliban's leadership toward the country, Washington has signaled its seriousness regarding negotiations by sending Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq.