The preliminary preparations for the intra-Afghan talks are taking shape in Qatar, aiming to set the stage for the official negotiations that were called for in the US-Taliban agreement signed at the beginning of the year.

With the prospect of the intra-Afghan peace talks starting this month between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators, the UN urged them to redouble efforts at protecting civilians from harm and de-escalating the conflict in order to save lives and create a conducive environment for the upcoming talks in Doha.

Intra-Afghan peace negotiations will start in less than two weeks in Qatar, sources told 1TV on Thursday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has highlighted the necessity of unity among various Afghan groups.

Three Taliban terrorists have been killed, and five more have suffered injuries in a pre-emptive strike by the Afghan armed forces in Helmand province, the country's military said in a statement on Sunday.

Afghan government said it will release another 100 Taliban prisoners today (Thursday) under President Ashraf Ghani's decree issued on March 11.

President Ashraf Ghani and Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif spoke with each other on Tuesday, discussing the coronavirus outbreak, return of refugees and political situation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stressed the importance of political structures based on Afghanistan constitution with regard to peace and national reconciliation, saying Iran supports peace process in Afghanistan with participation of all Afghan political groups.

The Afghan Taliban warned Sunday that it will resume full-scale attacks if a peace agreement signed with the U.S. in February is not followed in letter and spirit.

Afghan government said on Saturday it had given the Taliban a list of less than 1,000 prisoners it expects to be released by the group.

The Afghan government and the Taliban group have discussed the exchange of prisoners in a rare video call format to pave the way for a broader peace agenda, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said.

EU's special envoy Roland Kobia has called for full ceasefire in Afghanistan as a measure for helping people against coronavirus.

In the recent peace deal with the Taliban the US has committed to withdrawing from Afghanistan but in stages with continued withdrawal depending upon the Taliban meeting their responsibilities under the agreement.

While Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are on the defensive position based on instruction of the country’s President, Taliban have increased their attacks on the Afghan forces in recent days.

The presidential palace says that the work of forming the delegation for intra-Afghan dialogue has been finished; officials say the delay was because some discussions and consultations had to be made.

The Taliban rejected the Afghan government's attempt to resolve a spiraling crisis over the release of insurgent prisoners Wednesday, as Kabul warned it was ready to resume offensive battlefield operations.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called for the inclusion of Afghan women in the peace talks with the Taliban.

The Taliban said that the US airstrikes in Helmand on March 4th was a violation of the US-Taliban agreement, signed in Qatar, and would be investigated by the monitoring team. Suhail Shaheen said that in the agreement, there is no part saying that the U.S. can’t attack the Taliban.

The Taliban group released the details of a 35-minute phone discussion between President Donald Trump and the group’s deputy political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

At least 20 people including militants, security personnel and civilians have been killed over the past 24 hours elsewhere in Afghanistan amid observing reduction in violence by the Taliban outfit in the country, officials said Tuesday.