Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy political chief of the Talian group met with Deobrah Lyons, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan.

“The Political Deputy Amir of the Islamic Emirate and Head of the Political Office, Mullah Bradar Akhund and delegation accompanying him met Head of UNAMA Ms Deborah Lyons and her delegation in Doha,” Suhail Shaheen, a spokesperson for the political office of Taliban said in a Twitter post.

Shaheen further added “Both sides talked about release of the remaining prisoners and commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations. Similary, they discussed ways of cooperation for the prevention of spread of Covid19. Also, avoidance of civilian casualties came under discussion.”

This comes as efforts are underway to start intra-Afghan talks aimed at ending the ongoing violence in the country.

The U.S. and Taliban representatives signed a peace deal late in February this year with the release of prisoners being one of the key points for the launch of intra-Afghan talks.

Both the Afghan government and Taliban have so far released hundreds of prisoners to help the peace process.