PESHAWAR,Pakistan (Reuters) – A lead Taliban negotiator on Thursday said no peace talks were planned with Afghan officials for early September, hours after a senior government official said talks were to begin next month.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai’s statement to Reuters comes at a time when the two sides are under pressure from the United States and its allies to hold talks, a move that could pave way for the end of about two decades of war in Afghanistan.
A major stumbling block has been the issue of the release of Taliban prisoners.
(Reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, Writing by Rupam Jain, editing by John Stonestreet)
