Ashraf Ghani

At least 30 people were killed and nearly 100 wounded on April 30 when a car bomb exploded in an Afghan city south of the capital that President Ashraf Ghani blamed on the Taliban.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Afghan peace process and a number of other issues in a phone call on April 12. 

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on his first visit to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, said on March 21 that the Biden administration wants to see "a responsible end" to America's longest war, but the level of violence must decrease for "fruitful" diplomacy to have a chance.

In a bid to accelerate the stalled peace process, a meeting between the Afghan government representatives and the Taliban would be arranged in Turkey, according to a letter leaked by Afghanistan's Tolo News on March 7. 

The letter was sent by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, revealed in the leaked letter.

Turkey has welcomed a solution to a months-long dispute on who will run Afghanistan following presidential elections and underlined that Turkey will continue to support the country.

Turkey on May 17 welcomed the political agreement between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah, hoping that the deal would lead to intra-Afghan negotiations, and ultimately bring lasting peace in the war-torn country.

Afghanistan's government late on March 26 announced a 21-member team to negotiate with the Taliban in a tentative sign of progress for the United States-brokered peace deal.

Washington's unprecedented threat to cut $1 billion in Afghanistan funding a response to the refusal of rivals in Kabul to work together to advance peace comes at a time when the impoverished nation risks being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived on March 23 in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a U.S. peace deal signed last month with the Taliban, a trip that comes despite the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel.

The peace accord signed between the United States and the Taliban is at a critical juncture, according to NATO's former civilian representative in Afghanistan. The deal foresees negotiations to be undertaken between the Taliban and the Afghan government.