Afghan talks underway as violence surges

By Nathan Morley

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban met in Doha for talks as violence continues to spiral in the country.

Following on the heels of many foreign troops, the French government flew out around 100 of its citizens and Afghans working for the embassy on Saturday.

India, China, Germany and Canada have flown out their citizens or told them to leave in recent days as the security situation worsens.

Now, the two sides in the conflict are meeting again in Qatari capital. However, commentators say the talks have lost momentum the Taliban are making practical military gains.

The Taliban were quick to capitalize of the pull-out of US and other foreign troops to launch a series of offensives.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Saturday partially reopened its side of the southern border crossing with Afghanistan, shut after the Taliban seized control of the strategic Afghan frontier last week.