US signs peace deal with Taliban

US officials and Taliban representatives have signed a final peace deal after months of negotiations in Qatar's capital to end the United States' longest war, fought in Afghanistan. US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar inked the deal in an opulent hall in a five-star hotel in Doha, Qatar.

Saturday's agreement in the presence of leaders from Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, will pave the way for the United States to withdraw its troops gradually.

The two sides had long wrangled over the US demand for a ceasefire before the final peace agreement was signed.