U.S. talks with Pakistan about restarting intra-Afghan peace negotiations

June 8 (UPI) -- United States and Pakistani officials talked Sunday about efforts to help restart the stalled intra-Afghan peace talks after fighting broke out between the Taliban and the government.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation, said in a statement he talked with Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad.

Khalilzad said the two addressed steps that can be taken to restart the negotiations.

"The two took note of recent progress created by the Eid cease-fire and accelerated prisoner releases as well as reduced violence ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations," said a statement from the U.S.Mission in Pakistan.

"Ambassador Khalilzad expressed his appreciation for the role Prime Minister Imran Khan and General Bajwa are playing in support of peace in Afghanistan. The two agreed peace in Afghanistan offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance security, connectivity and development for the region," the statement said.

The two also talked about the repatriation of more than 2 million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan and managing its border with Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani Army statement.

The Taliban and the U.S.-backed Afghanistan government agreed to a three-day cease-fire during the Muslim festival of Eid that marks the end of Ramadan on May 23. That cease-fire lasted another week before the violence started again.

The United States recommended airstrikes on Taliban fighters in western Farah and southern Kandahar provinces on Friday after a roadside bomb killed seven civilians in Kunduz province and two died in a mosque bombing in Kabul.

The United States signed a historic peace deal with the Taliban in February, which was supposed to lead to the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from the country. The deal, though, has stalled after the Afghanistan government, which was not part of the negotiations, balked at releasing prisoners. Fighting resumed between the Taliban in on-and-off intra-Afghan negotiations since.