Quadrilateral talks kick off in Afghanistan

A second round of four-nation talks has started in the Afghan capital, Kabul, with representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States coming together to lay out the ground for peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

The participants met on Monday to discuss a road-map Kabul had presented in the previous meeting, held in Islamabad last week, according to an Afghan official.

The ultimate purpose of the talks is to engage the Afghan government and the Taliban in direct negotiations on the country’s future. The Taliban have yet to agree to take part in the negotiations. They have accused the US of violating its commitment to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan at the end of 2014.

“Now the invaders have once again started fighting contrary to their previous promises,” the Taliban said in a statement. “These activities of invaders have shaken the miserable Afghan nation because from one side there are hues and cries regarding deceitful peace and on the other hand the invaders have started a new war here.”