US, Taliban near deal to end 18-year war

KABUL, Afghanistan - Negotiators from the United States and the Taliban are close to a deal that would open the way for peace in Afghanistan, a top US official said on Sunday, as the insurgents followed their weekend assault on the strategic center of Kunduz by attacking a second northern city.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghanborn US diplomat overseeing negotiations for Washington, has met with the Afghan president in the capital, Kabul, to brief him on the latest round of talks with the Taliban as a deal nears on ending America's longest war, an official said on Monday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqqi confirmed the meeting took place on Sunday night at the presidential palace, shortly after the US envoy arrived from Qatar.