The war in Afghanistan has been ongoing for years and the fact that there are rumors of peace talks indicates to me that both sides are growing weary of war. The war has been long and costly for both sides. It has placed a severe drain on the economy of the United States. It has also placed a severe mental drain on the troops who have served multiple tours there. It has been a drain on their families and the rest of the United States. Many American and NATO troops have lost their lives and been maimed for life. The United States has borne the brunt of the pressure because they have provided most of the manpower and equipment requirements needed to fight the war.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda have taken many casualties and have suffered a large number of casualties. The drone campaign which the United States government has aggressively pursued has served to decimate the ranks of the terror organizations which has caused them to remain off balance. The campaign has targeted high level operatives in both organizations which has left them in a turmoil as far as their leadership goes. They have to constantly replace leaders who have been taken out by US drones.

It also seems that they are having a hard time finding new recruits at this time as evidenced that they are kidnapping children and forcing them to operate as suicide bombers.

Afghanistan has said that they will accept a Taliban office in Qatar to help peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent. The reason that they make this statement is because the Taliban has refused to recognize the Afghan President as the legitimate leader of the country. They say that they recognize him as a puppet of the United States and have done a good job of ignoring him thus far. 
 
Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha.
 
It said that negotiations with the Taliban could only begin after they stopped violence against civilians, cut ties to al Qaeda, and accepted the Afghan constitution which guarantees civil rights and liberties, including rights for women.
 
The council, according to a copy of the 11-point note made available to Reuters, also said any peace process with the Taliban would have to have the support of Pakistan since members of the insurgent group were based there.
 
"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in agreement regarding the opening of an office for the armed opposition, but only to move forward the peace process and conduct negotiations," the council said.

Personally I believe that the council is making too many demands from the Taliban before they even come to the table to talk. Keep in mind that some of these demands though they are legitimate cut to the very core of Taliban beliefs.
 
Both sides seem to have come to the rightful conclusion that further violence is futile. The war has continued for over a decade with no significant gains by either side. I certainly hope that the conflict can be resolved peacefully.