Roadblocks cast shadow over path to peace in Afghanistan

FILE PHOTO: U.S. troops patrol at an Afghan National Army (ANA) Base in Logar province, Afghanistan August 7, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani/File Photo

KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. diplomats and the Afghan Taliban have seen cause for hope in talks to end the United States' longest war, but the pivotal issues of a ceasefire and the militants sitting down with the Afghan government are far from being resolved.

Areas in which both sides have hailed progress - plans for the withdrawal of foreign troops 17 years after the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban and assurances that Afghanistan won't become a base for al Qaeda or Islamic State - still need detailed negotiation, sources on both sides said.