U.S., Taliban resumes 8th round of talks in Doha

The United States and Afghanistan's Taliban group resumed their eighth round of talks in the Qatari capital of Doha on Sunday, hoping to halt 18 years of fighting, state-run Qatar News Agency reported, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

According to a Taliban source, efforts were under way to organize a direct meeting between the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Baradar, a co-founder of Taliban.

A day earlier, Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for Taliban's political office in Doha, said on Twitter that an agreement would mean that all foreign forces will leave Afghanistan within a set time frame.

The United States, which invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban from power in 2001, wants the group to guarantee that Afghanistan will not become a haven for terrorists, while Taliban is seeking assurances from Washington that all foreign forces will withdraw from the country.