Obama praises Karzai's 'courageous' Taliban peace talks decision

US President Barack Obama has commended Afghanistan's President Karzai for his "courageous" decision to engage in talks with the Taliban, in a bid to end the conflict in his country.

The US has also confirmed it will participate in direct peace talks with Taliban representatives.

Speaking at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, Mr Obama said he did not expect the process to be "easy or quick", but that "we must pursue it in parallel with our military approach."