Key Afghan, Pakistani, Chinese and US officials are meeting for talks aimed at establishing a roadmap for peace between Afghanistan and the Taliban.

The Afghan government has been locked in a bloody conflict with Taliban militants for more than a decade.

Delegates hope the talks, hosted by Pakistan, will help pave the way for negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.

However, the Taliban, who are divided by factional infighting, are not attending Monday's talks.

Peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban last year collapsed, after news emerged that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had in fact died in 2013.

His deputy Mullah Mansour was declared leader in July - but a number of senior Taliban commanders refused to pledge allegiance to him and a faction opposed to him was set up under Mullah Mohammad Rasool.

(BBC)