KABUL: A delegation from Hezb-i-Islami, one of Afghanistan's militant groups, has met with President Hamid Karzai and US embassy officials in Kabul, officials said Tuesday.

Led by former Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hezb-i-Islami is the second largest militant group after the Taliban waging a 10-year insurgency against the Kabul administration and its Nato allies.

A delegation representing the group travelled to Kabul and met with Karzai on Sunday “in a good atmosphere, and the results were good”, Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP, refusing to give further details.

The comments follow a web statement by the Taliban confirming that they were in talks to open a liaison office abroad, possibly in Qatar, in a move towards peace talks with the United States.

A palace official speaking under condition of anonymity told AFP that Hekmatyar's delegation included Ghairat Baheer, one of his main lieutenants.

“They are in Kabul. They met with President Karzai on Sunday and later with US embassy officials. The meetings were about peace talks,” the official told AFP.

Afghanistan has been gripped in war since the United States invaded the country to topple the Taliban for sheltering Al-Qaeda leaders in 2001.