The Taliban on Saturday refused to hold direct peace talks with the Afghan government, dealing a blow to international efforts to revive long-stalled negotiations aimed at ending the deadly 14-year insurgency, AFP reports.
The announcement, which comes as face-to-face talks were expected to start in Islamabad this week, stressed longstanding preconditions for dialogue including the departure of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
The Taliban's seemingly intractable position follows a string of military victories for the insurgent group after NATO formally ended its combat operations more than a year ago.