US announces breakthrough in Taliban peace talks

A major breakthrough in negotiations with the Taliban appears to be on the horizon, a US envoy to Afghanistan said on Monday, following six-days of intensive talks between the two sides in Qatar.

Zalmay Khalilzad said the US and Taliban had drafted a framework to progress with peace talks, although differences on a ceasefire and a withdrawal of foreign forces remain.

"We have a draft of the framework that has to be fleshed out before it becomes an agreement," Khalilzad told The New York Times.

After six-days of continuous talks between American and Taliban officials in Doha, the two sides stuck progress over the weekend.

"The Taliban have committed, to our satisfaction, to do what is necessary that would prevent Afghanistan from ever becoming a platform for international terrorist groups or individual," he said in the interview.

This is viewed as a major breakthrough in months of talks between the two sides, with the US keen to establish a truce with the Taliban before nationwide elections later in the year.

Although no further details were given, Afghan experts believe that the Taliban could have agreed to take military action against foreign militant groups such as the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda.

"We felt enough confidence that we said we need to get this fleshed out, and details need to be worked out," Khalizad added.

Acting US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan welcomed the breakthrough.

"I'd say really the takeaway right now: it's encouraging," Shanahan told Pentagon reporters.

The US intervened in Afghanistan in 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, due to the Taliban's hosting of Al-Qaeda.

The Taliban regime was overthrown but launched an insurgency against US-led NATO forces and the Afghan government.

The Taliban have held talks with the US to end the war in Afghanistan but have refused to negotiate with the Kabul government, which it views as an "American puppet".