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Posted: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 2:13 pm | Updated: 4:00 pm, Tue Jun 18, 2013.

A look at US-Taliban relations Associated Press |

Word that the Taliban and U.S. will hold formal talks to find a political solution to end nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan comes after years of failed efforts at peace talks. A look at the evolution of U.S. relations with the Taliban:

1980s

_The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement, emerged from the Pakistani-trained mujahedeen, or holy warriors, who battled the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s with secret backing by the CIA.

1990s

_Civil war broke out when the pro-Soviet Afghan government collapsed following the departure of Moscow's troops. The U.S. took an arms-length position of neutrality as rival warlords shelled Kabul into ruins.

_The Taliban emerged as a united military and political force in 1994 and took control of Afghanistan in 1996. Led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Afghan Taliban sheltered Osama bin Laden in the years leading up to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But the group was toppled shortly after the U.S. and allied invasion one month later.

2001

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A look at US-Taliban relations