He will call for a reduction in violence and a speeding up of negotiations. The US envoy to Afghanistan meets Taliban representatives in Doha

The US State Department said that the Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has started a tour that includes Qatar, Pakistan and India, and he will meet with leaders of the Taliban movement in Doha. He will demand reducing violence and accelerating Afghan negotiations to implement the peace agreement concluded in the Qatari capital.

The ministry added in a statement yesterday that the Khalilzad tour, which will be Doha's first stop, started on Tuesday and will focus on the situation in Afghanistan.

She added that he was scheduled to meet with representatives of the Taliban in Doha to press for the full implementation of the agreement signed with the United States in late February.

Khalilzad will also meet in Islamabad with a number of Pakistani officials, where he will also discuss the Afghan peace process, according to the same statement.

In New Delhi, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan will meet officials there to discuss what the statement described as India's important role in sustainable peace in Afghanistan and the region.

The US State Department indicated that Khalilzad would urge, during all its stations, an immediate reduction in violence, an acceleration of the timetable for the start of negotiations between Afghans, and cooperation between all parties in tackling the Corona virus pandemic.

The American envoy's tour comes after the Taliban attacks that resulted in the killing and wounding of dozens of Afghan forces, and comes in light of the delay in the start of negotiations between the movement and Kabul, although the two sides have been continuing for weeks in the exchange of prisoners.

It is noteworthy that the Taliban and the United States signed on February 29 in the Qatari capital an agreement that paves the way - according to a timetable - for the gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees from the movement.

The agreement provides for the release of about five thousand Taliban prisoners, compared to about one thousand prisoners from the government forces, in a step that precedes any peace negotiations between the movement and the government.