US envoy in Kabul after talks with Taliban on Afghanistan peace

The US special envoy for Afghan peace talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, arrived in Kabul on Wednesday to meet government officials, following his discussions with Taliban representatives in Abu Dhabi this week. Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former US ambassador to Kabul, has been leading Washington’s efforts to encourage negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government to end the 17-year-old war. Khalilzad will meet President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, according to a statement from the US embassy in Kabul. US officials have not commented on the meetings in Abu Dhabi, attended by officials from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan. The Taliban said the two days of talks focused on the withdrawal of foreign troops, a central demand of the movement, as well as the treatment of Taliban prisoners and civilian casualties from airstrikes.