Four members of the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Saadat Mansoor Naderi, Fawzia Koofi, Matin Beg and Kalimullah Naqibi, have returned to the country over personal matters, sources told TOLOnews. 

The negotiations in Doha have faced delays over two disputed points for the ground rules for the talks: the religious basis for the talks and the authority of the US-Taliban deal as the "mother deal" underlying the current negotiations. 

In reaction to the killing of a senior al-Qaeda leader Husam Abdul Rauf, known as Abu Mohsen al-Misri, the Afghan Army’s Chief of Staff Yasin Zia said the Taliban has yet to cut their ties with al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

According to an analysis in the Long War Journal, the US has confirmed that al-Misri was killed in Ghazni province earlier this month.