‘US held secret talks with Taliban’

US: A US media report suggests that Washington has held several rounds of direct talks and is trying to reach a settlement with Taliban militants in Afghanistan. The Washington Post said in a report on Tuesday that the plan was initiated several months ago to work out a settlement.

The report comes one day after State Department spokesman Michael A. Hammer said that the US had a “broad range of contacts across Afghanistan and the region, at many levels. . . . We’re not going to get into the details of those contacts.”

The White House has refused to further comment on the issue. However, an American official said Afghan authorities have been briefed on the contacts between the US and the Taliban.

A senior Afghan official has confirmed that US representatives met with a Taliban figure close to the group’s leader in three countries, including Germany.

The development comes after senior officials in the US and the UK floated the idea of making peace with the Taliban, although the annihilation of militants was one of the main objectives of the 2001 US-led invasion.

US President Barack Obama has frequently blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to fight terrorism in its troubled northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border. American aircraft frequently attack Pakistani tribal regions, targeting alleged militant hideouts but locals say civilians are the main victims of the unauthorized attacks.

Pakistani officials have dismissed reports that the country’s tribal areas are a safe haven for terrorists.

Meanwhile, senior Afghan and Pakistani officials have frequently said that efforts by Washington to make peace with the Taliban are bound to fail without the assistance of Kabul and Islamabad.

Wednesday,Presstv