US envoy says Kabul, Taliban in first prisoner exchange talks

The Afghan government and the Taliban on Sunday held their first discussion on arranging possible prisoner exchanges, the US special envoy for Afghanistan said on Twitter.

"Today, the US and Qatar facilitated the first Afghan government to Taliban technical talks on prisoner releases, via Skype video conferencing," Zalmay Khalilzad said.

He had said on Wednesday that it was "urgent" to quickly conclude plans for such exchanges -- as called for in a US pact with the Taliban -- as the coronavirus pandemic was complicating diplomatic contacts.