KABUL: Talks on a pact that would allow the United States to end its longest war and withdraw troops from Afghanistan ended on Monday without agreement and both sides would consult their leaders on the next steps, the Taliban said.
The talks, held in Qatar since late last year, have brought hopes for a deal allowing US troops to leave in exchange for a Taliban promise that Afghanistan will not be used by militants as a base from which to plot attacks abroad.
But the United States is pushing for Taliban agreement on two other elements: power-sharing talks with the US-backed government and a ceasefire.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the eighth round of talks, which a US official said earlier involved technical details of the implementation of the pact, ended in the early hours and both sides would consult their leaders.
"We prolonged our meeting with the hope of reaching a peace agreement but it could not happen," said a member of the Taliban negotiating team in Qatar.
"We discussed a number of issues and developed consensus on some of them but couldn't reach a conclusion," said the official who declined to be identified.
The US negotiators were demanding that the Taliban announce a ceasefire and start direct talks with the Afghan government.
The Taliban, fighting since their ouster in 2001 to expel foreign forces and establish an Islamic state, responded by calling for the United States to announce a roadmap for the withdrawal of their forces, the Taliban official said.
US officials were not immediately available for comment but the chief US negotiator, veteran Afghan-American diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad, said on Sunday hard work was being done "toward a lasting and honourable peace agreement and a sovereign Afghanistan which poses no threat to any other country".
An agreement would allow US President Donald Trump to achieve his aim of ending a war launched in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
STALEMATE
The war has become a stalemate, with neither side able to defeat the other and casualties rising among civilians as well as combatants.
But without a Taliban commitment to power-sharing talks and a ceasefire, there are fears the insurgents will fight on when US forces leave in a bid to overthrow the government.