U.S., Taliban aim to firm up date for foreign force exit from Afghanistan

Upcoming peace talks between the United States and the Taliban will focus on working out a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan and on a Taliban guarantee militants won't plot attacks from Afghan soil, sources said on Monday. A seventh round of talks between the warring sides begins on Saturday in Qatar's capital of Doha, where U.S. and Taliban negotiators have been trying to hammer out a deal to end to the 18-year-long war since October. "Once the timetable for foreign force withdrawal is announced, then talks will automatically enter the next stage," said Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha.