MojNews-A fresh round of U.S.- Taliban peace talks began in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday, officials said, describing it to be the “most crucial” phase of negotiations to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan .

Senior officials privy to the talks said a peace agreement could be expected at the end of the eighth round of talks, possibly before Aug. 13, and would enable foreign forces to be withdrawn from the war-torn country.

Zalmay Khalilzad , the U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan who has held a series of meetings with Taliban leaders since last year, reached Doha on Friday night.

“Just got to Doha to resume talks with the Taliban. We are pursuing a peace agreement not a withdrawal agreement,” Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.