In this photo released by Associated Press of Pakistan, delegates from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and United States attend a meeting at the foreign ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States resumed talks Wednesday on bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table, the foreign ministry said. (Associated Press of Pakistan via AP)
May 18, 2016 - 3:12 AM
Islamabad says four nations — Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States — have resumed talks on bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table.
The Foreign Ministry says talks were underway Wednesday in Islamabad, which has hosted previous such four-nation meetings.
The development comes after the outlawed Afghan group Hezb-e-Islami signalled it was inching closer to a peace deal with Kabul. Though there has been no deal yet with the group, whose leader Gulbuddin Helmatyar is a U.S.-designated terrorist, the signs are considered to be progress toward peace talks.
However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has denounced further talks with the Taliban after a deadly Kabul explosion last month. Instead he has demanded Islamabad take up arms against the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction that has found refuge in Pakistan.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016