TALIBAN leader Hibatullah Akhundzada called for a political resolution to the crisis in Afghanistan today, urging Kabul to stop relying on foreigners to broker peace.

He criticised opponents for wasting time and said that despite the Islamist group’s military gains and advances, dialogue was welcomed to resolve the conflict.

“Our message remains that instead of relying on foreigners, let us resolve our issues among ourselves and rescue our homeland from the prevailing crisis,“ he said.

Representatives from the Taliban sat down for talks with Afghan government officials in the Qatari capital Doha this weekend under the provisions of a peace deal struck with the United States last year.

Little progress has been made, and the Taliban has intensified its attacks on government forces, claiming to have taken control of some 85 per cent of the country. 

The government rejects these claims and has engaged in heavy fighting with the Islamists as it battles to regain territory lost since the US announced its final troop withdrawal last month.

Washington has denied that it has been defeated in Afghanistan some 18 years after it launched an invasion that it claimed was aimed at bringing democracy to the country and ousting the Taliban.