The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly met the leader of the Taliban in Kabul in Monday, sources have told US media.
Neither the Taliban nor the CIA would confirm the reported meeting between William Burns and Mullah Baradar.
US President Joe Biden has set a deadline of 31 August for American forces to leave Afghanistan. Allies – including the UK – want an extension.
US forces have been in Afghanistan since 2001, following the 9/11 attacks.
Sources have told US news outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and broadcaster NPR about the CIA-Taliban meeting.
However, they gave few details.
If confirmed, this would be the highest-level contact between the US and the Taliban since the militants took Kabul on 15 August, prompting the internationally backed Afghan government to flee.
Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC
