The Afghan Taliban are to open an office in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported.
The armed group will open the office with the aim of having a base from which to facilitate peace talks.
In March, Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, met the emir of Qatar to discuss plans for the Taliban to open an office in the Gulf state.
He discussed "issues of mutual interest" with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the state news agency QNA said, without elaborating on the substance of their talks.
The British government will “strongly support” the Taliban office in Doha as a “very positive development” and hopes it opens “soon”, outgoing British ambassador to Qatar Michael O’Neill said on Sunday.
The Afghan President had been reluctant to offer the Taliban a foreign venue but Karzai faced US pressure to allow the militant group a presence at the negotiating table as Washington prepares to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of next year.
