Veteran Afghan strongmen to form new front for negotiating with Taliban

FILE PHOTO: Atta Mohammad Noor, Governor of the Balkh province, gestures as he speaks during an interview in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan January 1, 2018. REUTERS/Anil Usyan/File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) - A band of veteran Afghan leaders, including two regional strongmen, are angling for talks with the Taliban and plan to meet within weeks to form a new front for holding negotiations on the country's next government, a member of a group said.

Khalid Noor, son of Atta Mohammad Noor, the once-powerful governor of northern Afghanistan's Balkh province, said the group comprised of veteran ethnic Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum and others opposed to the Taliban's takeover.