US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had held a “very good talk” with the leader of the Taliban, soon after the militants confirmed a call between the US president and fighter-turned-negotiator Mullah Baradar.

“Actually (I) had a very good talk with the leader of the Taliban,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump didn’t refer by name to Baradar, but the head of the group’s political wing has been leading talks ahead of the signing of an accord between the US and the Taliban in Doha on Saturday that Washington hopes will mark the beginning of the end of its longest war.

US President Donald Trump had a phone call with Taliban fighter-turned-negotiator Mullah Baradar, the insurgent group said late Tuesday, days after Washington signed a historic deal with the militants.

"The President of the United States... held a phone call with the Political Deputy of the Islamic Emirate, the respected Mullah Baradar Akhund," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted.

https://twitter.com/Zabehulah_M33/status/1234905165637046272

The call came a day after the Taliban ended a partial truce and threw into doubt peace talks between Kabul and the insurgents that are due to begin on March 10.

Under the terms of the agreement signed on Saturday in Doha, foreign forces will quit Afghanistan within 14 months, subject to Taliban security guarantees and a pledge by the insurgents to hold talks with Kabul.