Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy on Afghan reconciliation, held crucial meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani authorities in order to fine-tune the contours of the Afghan peace deal likely to be signed between Washington and the Taliban soon.

Khalilzad is spearheading the Afghan peace efforts, flew from Doha on an unscheduled visit to Islamabad on Friday, The Express Tribune reported.

He first held talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office and later met Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

According to informed sources, the US envoy was in Islamabad to take the Pakistani authorities into confidence about the imminent peace deal.

Earlier on Friday, the US watchdog said that the violent attacks in Afghanistan’s war jumped to record levels in the last quarter of 2019 that underscored the conflict’s continued toll despite relative calm in Kabul.

The US is believed to have been pushing the Taliban to immediately start intra-Afghan dialogue once the framework agreement regarding the troop withdrawal is signed.

Qureshi stressed the need for early conclusion of negotiations and peace deal in the larger interest of the peace process and reiterated that the only solution of the conflict was an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process that would help create a peaceful, stable and prosperous country.

Last year, in September, the first round of presidential voting was held that saw the highest number of casualty-causing attacks since recording began in 2010.

On January 19, US and Taliban began a new round of peace talks in Doha that “all allies” of the country, as well as the “people of Afghanistan,” were “insisting on a ceasefire” before the next step in the peace process.

In August, peace talks between Washington and the Taliban had to reach a deal on the withdrawal of thousands of American troops collapsed after President Trump cited an attack that killed a US soldier as his reason for pulling out of negotiations. The talks did not include the Afghan government.

The Taliban had never agreed to end their violent campaign against Afghan and foreign forces while negotiations were taking place. Sixteen US troops have been killed this year.

In 2001, US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in Afghanistan because the militants had given safe haven to the Al-Qaeda network to plan the attacks on the US on September 11.

The Taliban have for long rejected to hold any official and direct talks with the Afghan government before it reaches an agreement with the US on its troop withdrawal from the country.