KABUL - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Wednesday said the government was fully determined to achieve peace but reconciliation talks would not slow down the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign.

Addressing a press conference here, MoFA spokesman Ahmad Shakib Mustagni confirmed the government had held face-to-face talks with Taliban representatives for the first time in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

A four-member delegation of the government met three Taliban representatives in Murree -- a tourist resort close to Islamabad -- last night. The meeting continued on Wednesday.

Names of participants were kept under wraps but reports said Deputy Foreign Minister Hikmat Khalil Karzai, President Advisor Haji Din Mohammad and members of the High Peace Council (HPC) represented the government at the talks.

On the other side, Maulvi Jalil, Mullah Abbas Stanikzai and Qari Din Mohammad were representation the Taliban side.

Taliban have not yet spoken on Islamabad talks, however, the group had earlier said that Qatar based Taliban was an authorized body for negotiations.

On Daesh, Mustaghni termed the self-styled Islamic State (IS) as a global terrorist organization, which would be flushed out of the country.

Present on the occasion, Dawlat Waziri, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), supported Afghan-led peace process and said that war was not solution to the problem.

He said militants should renounce violence and join the peace process aimed at ending the decade long conflict. (Pajhwok)