US, Taliban on 'threshold' of an agreement: Khalilzad

The United States and Taliban are on the threshold of reaching an agreement to end the 18-year long war and initiate inter-Afghan talks, Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Sunday, following the conclusion of the ninth round of peace talks.

"We are at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honourable & sustainable peace and a unified, sovereign Afghanistan that does not threaten the United States, its allies, or any other country," Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.

The agreement between the Taliban and the US is centred around the latter's promise to withdraw its troops from the war-torn country, in exchange for the guarantee by the former that the Afghan soil, particularly areas under the Taliban's control, would not become a platform for transnational terrorism.

Khalilzad further informed that he would be travelling to Kabul later today for "consultations" following the end of the final day of the latest round of peace talks.

The talks, however, were overshadowed by overnight clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan government forces in Kunduz, which claimed the lives of 10 people, reported Sputnik news agency.