CRI听力:China Tries to Revive Taliban Peace Talks, Joining Dialogue with Pakistan, Afghanistan and US

Afghan police officers stand with handcuffed Taliban militants in Nangarhar province, eastern Afghanistan, Dec. 29, 2015. Afghan security forces captured nine armed Taliban militants in the eastern Nangarhar province with Jalalabad as its capital, 120 km east of Kabul on Tuesday, a senior Border Police officer Mohammad Ayub Hussainkhil said. [Photo: Xinhua/Rahman Safi]

A new round of peace talks involving the Afghan Taliban is going to take place next week.

China, Pakistan, and the United States have arranged the meeting.

The talks come amid an increase in insurgent attacks in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Afghan officials have been warning that the Taliban, which ruled most of Afghanistan until the US-led invasion in late 2001, has been making significant headway in certain parts of the country.

For more on the impending talks, CRI's Michael Butterworth spoke earlier with Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, DC.