Image Source: TRIBUNE

The Taliban have given the US envoy a document outlining their offer for a temporary ceasefire in Afghanistan that would last between seven and 10 days, Taliban officials said today.

The offer is seen as an opportunity to open a window to an eventual peace deal for Afghanistan that would allow the United States to bring home its troops and end the 18-year war. The offer was handed to Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s envoy for talks with the insurgents, late on Wednesday in Qatar, a Gulf Arab country where the Taliban maintain a political office. Khalilzad has been pressing for a ceasefire but it wasn’t immediately clear whether the Taliban proposal would be enough to allow for the on-again-off-again talks between the Taliban and the US to restart, with the aim of eventually signing a peace deal.