Afghanistan Gov't, Taliban to Resume Peace Talks in January

On Monday, members of the Afghanistan government delegation said that peace talks are set to be resumed between the government and Taliban insurgents in early January as the two warring sides completed a series of negotiations for an agreement on basic procedural ground rules for sustaining their dialogue to end the war.

In a briefing statement, the members of the government said that they would travel back to Kabul from Doha.

On his part, a senior Afghan official overseeing diplomatic communications with the Taliban said, "We're taking a break for now and will be ready to discuss the agenda when talks resume."

[caption id="attachment_187247" align="alignnone" width="768"] Afghanistan Gov't, Taliban to Resume Peace Talks in January[/caption]

The talks between the Afghan sides began in Qatar in September, months after the United States and the Taliban struck a deal on the withdrawal of the remaining 12,000 U.S. troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees and a commitment to talk peace.

Despite the peace process, violence in Afghanistan has not ended. There are regular clashes in various parts of the country and bomb and rocket attacks in Kabul.

Last week, the U.S. forces carried out an air strike against Taliban insurgents to protect government forces in Kandahar province in a rare U.S. intervention since their pact with the Taliban.

Afghan officials in the southern province told media the Taliban were planning coordinated attacks on security forces when the U.S. military bombed them, killing more than 20 Taliban fighters.

The Taliban accused the United States and the Afghan government of killing civilians in the air strike.