Negotiators from both the U.S. and those representing the Taliban, are ironing out details including exactly when American troops will withdraw.

The U.S. is also reportedly seeking assurances from the Taliban that the group won’t harbor terrorists and a promise to hold talks with the Afghan government, once the U.S. military leaves.

All this as the death toll from Saturday’s suicide bomb attack in Kabul, targeting a wedding party climbed to 80. ISIL claimed responsibility for the worst carnage the country has seen this year.

CGTN’s Sean Callebs reports.

Follow Sean Callebs on Twitter @sfcallebs 

To discuss:

• Omar Samad is a former Afghan ambassador to France and Canada.
• P.J. Crowley is a former U.S. assistant secretary of State and author of “Red Line: American Foreign Policy in a Time of Fractured Politics and Failing States.”
• Shuja Nawaz is a distinguished fellow with the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council.

For more:

#UPDATE The top US negotiator on Afghanistan said he was ready to conclude peace talks with the Taliban as he headed back to Qatar on a mission to end America's longest war https://t.co/FTGTNOfWb8

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 20, 2019

An agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban for new talks with Kabul raises concerns that women may lose rights in future Afghan governments https://t.co/CdJlgY5XXt

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) August 16, 2019