Four U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan just hours after the U.S. government announced peace talks with the Taliban.
The soldiers were killed in "indirect fire" from insurgents at the Bagram air base near the Afghan capital Kabul and the attack took place hours after Washington asked the Taliban to renounce violence as a precondition to the peace talks.
The peace talks are scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban recently opened their first official overseas office, according to the BBC News.
President Obama has said that the announcement of the talks is an "important first step toward reconciliation".
"We don't anticipate this process will be easy or quick, but we must pursue it in parallel with our military approach," said the U.S. president.
The two sides were aiming to explore each other's agendas during the talks and prisoner exchange is one of the topics for discussion, according to the U.S. officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also said that his government was sending delegates to Qatar to talk to the Taliban.
Sources said that President Karzai's High Peace Council and the Taliban are set to hold talks following the discussions between the U.S. and the Taliban.
Earlier, the Taliban have always refused to have direct talks with the Afghan president or his government, dismissing them as puppets of the U.S. government.
It is not clear when the talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban will be held but the Secretary of the High Peace Council Masoom Stanekzai said they might meet "within days" probably just after the meeting of the f U.S. delegates and the Taliban.
After opening the first official overseas office in Doha on Tuesday, Taliban representative Mohammed Naeem told reporters that the group wanted to have a good relationship with Afghanistan's neighbors.
"We support a political and peaceful solution that ends Afghanistan's occupation, and guarantees the Islamic system and nationwide security," said the group in a statement.
NATO on Tuesday handed the combat responsibilities to Afghan security forces but international troops will remain in the country until the end of next year in a bid to provide military back-up when needed.
