Officials from four countries that are trying to draft a road map for an eventual peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan say they will meet in Islamabad for a third round of talks on February 6.
The meeting of diplomats from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, and China was announced after they completed talks in Kabul on January 18.
A joint statement issued after those talks said progress was made “towards initiating peace talks with Taliban groups.”
But it did not provide further details about those results or information about which Taliban factions might be willing to join future peace talks.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani called on all Taliban factions to join talks with the Afghan government or risk being sidelined from any future settlement.
He said “any delay in coming to the table will put the Taliban in a corner.”