<span style="color: #222222;">A fresh round of talks between the United States and the Taliban is to begin in Qatar today.  US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had recently said Washington is hoping for an Afghan peace agreement before September 1. <br />'' <br />'' The focus of the talks will be on the withdrawal of U.S. troops and Taliban guarantees to prevent Afghanistan from again hosting militants who can stage global attacks.<br />''<br />''The latest round of talks comes amid heightened expectations that followed Pompeo's optimistic time frame for a pact to end Afghanistan's nearly two decades long war and America's longest-running military engagement.</span><br />