ISLAMABAD, Dec 5: Afghanistan’s crumbling Taliban held peace talks on Wednesday with Pakhtoon leader Hamid Karzai, named to head an interim government under a UN-brokered deal, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service reported.

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying that a Taliban delegation met Karzai at Shah Wali Kot, north of Kandahar, which Taliban chief Mulla Mohammad Omar has asked his followers to defend “to their last breath”.

“ We discussed (ways) to prevent bloodshed in Kandahar and solve problems peacefully,” AIP quoted the spokesman as saying.

“We want that there should be no more bloodshed in Kandahar and problems are solved peacefully,” said the spokesman, whose name was not given by AIP.

There was no immediate word about the reported meeting from either the Taliban or Karzai.

The agency said the delegation was sent by Mulla Omar and identified its leader as Maulvi Akhtar Mohammad Agha.—Reuters