Afghan Taliban govt says to attend third round of UN-hosted Doha talks

KABUL:

Taliban

authorities will attend the third round of United Nations-hosted talks on

Afghanistan

in the Qatari capital, a government spokesman told AFP on Sunday, after snubbing an invitation to the previous round.
"A

delegation

of the

Islamic Emirate

will participate in the coming Doha

conference

. They will represent Afghanistan there and express Afghanistan's position," Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said of the talks, which are scheduled to start June 30.
The participation of the Taliban authorities in the two-day conference of

special envoys

on Afghanistan had been in doubt after they were not included in the first round and then refused an invitation to the second round in February.
Mujahid told local media on Sunday the decision had been made to send a delegation, the members of which would be announced later, because it was deemed "beneficial to Afghanistan".