Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, met with former president Hamid Karzai on Monday and discussed the second round of peace talks, Abdullah's office said. 

Abdullah and Karzai during the meeting discussed the second round of the peace talks in Doha and the international consensus for Afghan peace, it said. 

Both leaders called for an immediate reduction in violence, it added. 

Second round of talks 

Some members from each side in Doha, including the chief negotiators, held a meeting on Sunday evening and discussed the agenda, said Republic negotiator Nader Nadery.

The meeting comes after days of delay. 

Over the nine days since the start of the second round of talks, the two sides have held four meetings, including Sunday evening's meeting, at the working group level, but they haven’t had progress in finalizing the agenda that will open the way for formal talks. 

Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem said that US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the political office, and Mawlawi Abdul Hakeem Haqqani, head of the negotiating team, and discussed the peace agreement and emphasized that issues should be solved via dialogue and that every side should fulfill its responsibilities in a fair way. 

This comes as violence has increased in the country in recent days, including targeted attacks in cities like Kabul. 

The Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for a complex attack on an NDS facility in the southern province of Kandahar. Local officials said four attackers were killed in the attack that started with a car bomb explosion.   

The officials said the attack took “no casualties” from Afghan forces.