China is likely to host a second round of peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives next week, an Afghan official said on Friday

China is likely to host a second round of peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives next week, an Afghan official said on Friday, raising hopes for progress toward a political settlement to end years of bloodshed.

China is increasingly worried about insurgency in the region spilling over into its territory and has been playing a role to broker a peace deal between Kabul and the Taliban insurgents.

"The second round of talks is most probably going to be held in Urumqi in China on July 30," said Ismail Qasimyar, a senior member of Afghan High Peace Council.

Urumqi is the capital of China's far-west Xinjiang region. Beijing says it faces its own insurrection there, members of which it believes get shelter and training from Taliban and other armed men along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Qasimyar said delegations from China and the United States would observe the talks, as they did in the first official meeting this month.

Pakistan hosted the inaugural talks between Afghan government and the Taliban in its capital in a tentative step to end more than 13 years of fighting in Afghanistan that kills hundreds every month.

US-led forces formally ended their combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of last year, leaving a contingent of about 12,000 NATO troops to train Afghan forces, as US officials claim.

However, violence has sharply increased in most parts of the country this year with Afghan forces suffering record number of casualties.