The “significant progress” said to have been made during six days of talks between US officials and the Afghan Taliban suggests that both sides are serious about trying to find a peaceful solution to a 17-year conflict that has scarred Afghanistan.
But with the Taliban currently refusing to hold direct talks with Afghan officials, and negotiations relating to “unsolved matters” still to continue, what has actually been agreed during the meetings in Qatar?
Secunder Kermani, the BBC's Afghanistan correspondent, and senior Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai, look at what we know so far about the talks, and what it could mean for the future of the country and the foreign forces operating there.
How significant were the talks?
Both the Taliban and US officials have said “progress” was made in the latest set of talks in Qatar, and despite continuing violence on the ground in Afghanistan, there seems to be a growing momentum to the peace negotiations.
Leading analyst Ahmed Rashid told the BBC the talks were “enormously significant” and that “we've never been as close… to an end to the civil war in Afghanistan”.
The talks lasted for six days – longer than any of the other previous set of discussions that have been held during recent months.
In the middle of the talks last week, the Taliban announced one of the group's founding members, Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader, would be appointed the new head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar, after…
