US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said on Sunday that the intra-Afghan negotiations would happen only after the United States concluded its own deal with the Taliban movement."Lot of chatter in Kabul about intra-Afghan negotiations. To clarify, those negotiations will occur after we [the United States] conclude our own agreements and they will take place between the Taliban and an inclusive and effective national negotiating team consisting of senior government officials, key political party representatives, civil society and women," Khalilzad tweeted. On Saturday, the newly appointed Afghan Minister for Peace Abdul Salam Rahimi said that the first-ever meeting of the countrys government with the Taliban will start within two weeks in a European capital. Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree dissolving the countrys High Peace Council, established back in 2010 by former leader Hamid Karzai as a special group to hold talks with the Taliban movement. The authorities of the council have been transferred to the newly established State Ministry of Peace Affairs. At Least 20 Taliban Fighters Killed in US Airstrikes in Central Afghanistan At least twenty Taliban militants were killed in US-led airstrikes conducted in the central Ghazni province in Afghanistan, local media reported, citing the Afghan military. The airstrikes were carried out in Syed Wali and Marwarda areas of Qarabagh district, the Khaama Press News Agency reported on Saturday, citing the 203rd Thunder Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA). The operation comes as a new round of US and Taliban peace talks in Qatar were put on hold for two days. Washington is trying to reach a peace deal with the movement under which the United States would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for assurances that the country will not be used as a safe haven for terrorists. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed to speed up efforts to end almost a two-decade war after a phone call. The call came days after US President Donald Trump said he could wipe Afghanistan off the map but decided not to do so as it would cause 10 million deaths. The remarks were later criticized by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai as a "big insult" to his countrys people. | 
