Taliban leadership meets US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Pak

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met Taliban leader in Pakistan, weeks after US President Donald Trump called off the talks with the insurgent group in the wake of Kabul terror attack, two people familiar with the matter said.

The meeting occurred on Thursday and lasted for more than an hour, a Pakistani Foreign Minister official said. The development was confirmed by a former Taliban member in Kabul who maintains close ties to the group's leadership, reported The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the US State Department did not comment on reports of the meeting but said that Khalilzad travelled to Islamabad to meet Pakistani officials. A statement released by the department states that the Khalilzad's trip to Pakistan did "not represent a re-start of the Afghan Peace Process."

The US and the Taliban had held nine round of peace talks aimed at ending the 18-year long war in Afghanistan. An agreement was reached upon between the two "in principle", albeit, Trump called off the talks in the aftermath of the Kabul terror attack.