Pompeo meets Taliban officials in Qatar to salvage peace deal

US Secretary of State Micheal Pompeo on Monday made an unannounced visit to Kabul (Afghanistan) and Doha (Qatar) to hold talks with the Afghan government in an effort to prevent the country's peace deal from unwinding, CNN reported.

A report citing State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stated that Pompeo travelled to Doha for talks with Taliban officials, including group's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar, to press the Taliban to continue complying with the deal signed last month, CNN reported.

Prior to meetings in Doha, Pompeo made a stopover in Kabul where he met President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah who both claimed victory in the country's presidential elections, the report said.

Washington is apprehensive about the political tussle between Ghani and Abdullah that could affect the peace deal and the opportunity to end the 18-year-long war.

On February 29, the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban in Doha after months of negotiations, aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan and which will pave the way for Washington to withdraw all its troops from the country within 14 months.