Islamabad, Oct 22 (AP) The Taliban say a fresh round of intra-Afghan peace talks is to be held in China next week.

The announcement raises hopes for renewed negotiations, even as violence surges in Afghanistan's 18-year war.

Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Qatar, said Tuesday that the talks are planned for October 28 and 29.

A day earlier, the US State Department said its peace envoy started a fresh round of talks with European, NATO and UN allies about ending the war.

Zalmay Khalilzad will later meet with Russian and Chinese representatives "to discuss shared interests in seeing the war in Afghanistan come to an end."

An earlier round of peace talks between the US and the Taliban collapsed in September. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)