The president of the United States of America Donald Trump made an unannounced touchdown in Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with American troops in the country.
According to the BBC, it was his first visit to the country since he took oath of office from his predecessor Barack Obama, and was organized with a lot of secrecy.
During the visit, the head of state that the US was in talks with the Taliban less than three months after he ended talks aimed at striking a peace deal.
"The Taliban wants to make a deal, and we’re meeting with them,” the US president said.
“We’re going to stay until such time as we have a deal, or we have total victory, and they want to make a deal very badly,” he added.
The announcement of peace talks with the dreaded Taliban comes at a fraught political time for Afghanistan and the US.
Taliban controls vast amounts of territory, more than at any time since they were removed from power in an American-led military operation.
They have refused to hold direct talks with the government of Afghanistan until a deal with the United States is struck.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani said a committee had been reached that the Taliban must agree to a ceasefire.
"Both sides underscored that if the Taliban are sincere in their commitment to reaching a peace deal, they must accept a ceasefire. We also emphasized that for any peace to last, terrorist safe havens outside Afghanistan must be dismantled, " Ashraf Ghani said on Twitter.