Orlando Trotter described how he and Desmond took part in intense firefights with the Taliban on an almost daily basis over a seven-month period.

Danish Habibi was just a child in 2000 when the Taliban overran his village in Afghanistan's serene Bamiyan Valley. His memories of those days are reoccurring nightmares.

Col. Sonny Leggett said the recent Taliban attacks in Helmand province are ``not consistent'' with a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in February.

The Afghan Taliban on Thursday welcomed a tweet from U.S. President Donald Trump in which he promised to have the last of U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by Christmas.

Trump's comment came just hours after his national security adviser said Washington would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year.

The Afghan Defence Ministry, however, said the airstrikes killed 30 Taliban fighters, but added an investigation was being made into claims that civilians were among those killed.

The Taliban offensive, encircling and almost seizing Kunduz late last month, came just weeks before the Kabul government sat down with their sworn enemies in Doha on Saturday to start historic talks aimed at ending 19 years of war that has killed and wounded more than 100,000 civilians.

Historic negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan's political leadership opened in Qatar on Saturday, offering the best chance of peace after decades of war.

Pompeo made his comments en route to the Middle Eastern State of Qatar, where intra-Afghan negotiations are to begin Saturday.

The delayed negotiations are the second, critical part to a peace deal the U.S. signed with the Taliban in February in Doha.