BREAKING NEWS

Taliban say no pact struck with U.S. on deadline to end Afghan war

A three-day meeting between the Taliban and the US special envoy for Afghanistan to pave the way for peace talks ended with no agreement, the militant group said a day after the diplomat declared a deadline of April 2019 to end a 17-year-long war.
Afghanistan's security situation has worsened since NATO formally ended combat operations in 2014, as Taliban insurgents battle to reimpose strict Islamic law following their overthrow in 2001 by US-led troops.
Taliban leaders met US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad at their political headquarters in Qatar last week for the second time in the past month, spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said.
"These were preliminary talks and no agreement was reached on any issue," he said in a statement on Monday.
Taliban leaders had not accepted any deadline set by the United States to wrap up talks, according to three Taliban officials.
The US embassy in Kabul declined to comment.