The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Doha on Thursday, Reuters reported. He met with the negotiating team from the republic side, according to Fawzia Koofi, a republic-side negotiator, and is expected to meet with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a speech stressed the need for a diplomatic solution in the country. Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on Thursday warned that the protests of his supporters against the government will begin on Friday, during which he will set a 10-day deadline for the government to address the group’s demands.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday addressed a virtual conference of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) attended by heads of state, and he highlighted the ongoing developments in the region and focused on Afghanistan’s strategic location in Asia and the Afghan peace process.

Former Afghan Vice President Mohammad Younus Qanooni on Thursday said that a new roadmap for peace in Afghanistan is taking shape with the support of the international community, and that the main focus will be on forming a regional and national consensus.

Swedish police were still in the dark on Thursday over the motive for a knife attack in the southern town of Vetlanda which left seven people wounded and forced police to shoot a suspect.

No peace plan should lead to the collapse of the Republic system and the abolition of the Constitution, Second Vice President Sarwar Danish said on Thursday. Speaking at an event to mark the 26th death anniversary of Abdul Ali Mazari, Danish said that any plan for an interim and participatory government without holding elections would be a doomed plan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called on members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), an Asian political and economic intergovernmental organization, to play role in supporting a durable peace in Afghanistan.

Dozens of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) supporters staged a protest rally in Kabul on Friday, demanding the release of the party’s prisoners from Afghan jails. Addressing the marchers, the Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar set the government a 10-day deadline to meet their demands.

The Afghan Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) launched a clearance operation in northern Kunduz province, the Defense Ministry (MoD) said in a statement on Friday.

One police officer was killed, and another was wounded in an explosion that targeted a vehicle in Helmand on Wednesday, sources said. An IED hit the police officer’s private vehicle, the sources said, in PD3 of Lashkargah city, capital of the province.