It is hoped that having a new leader after seven months with no one at the helm will give impetus to the group, which has been in the background of insurgent talks with the US, Afghan and other world leaders. News of Salahuddin Rabbani's election comes as officials in Kabul are meeting with leaders of another militant group, Hizb-i-Islami, in an effort to bring an end to more than ten years of fighting.

Part of the US-led coalition's exit strategy is to gradually transfer security responsibility to Afghan forces. Another tack is to pull the Taleban and other militant factions into political discussions with the Afghan government.

The 70-plus members of the Afghan High Peace Council chose Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik and former ambassador to Turkey, to lead the group in an open election, according to a statement released by Karzai's office. Rabbani is the son of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani who was killed Sept. 20, 2011 in his home by a suicide bomber posing as a peace emissary from the Taleban.

"I believe that bringing peace and stability to our country will only be possible through peace," Rabbani said in the statement.

"The peace process can be successful only if Afghans are in the lead," he said. "Otherwise, we cannot achieve things, and we cannot gain the trust of the nation." Rabbani also said that continued fighting has resulted in the long presence of foreign forces on Afghan soil.

"If we have peace in our country, there will be no reason for the foreign forces to stay," he said.

Rabbani's election comes as a delegation Hizb-i-Islami is in Kabul for reconciliation talks.

A five-member delegation from the group has been meeting with members of the High Peace Council and will meet in coming days with President Hamid Karzai and both of his vice presidents, a spokesman for the president said Saturday.

"They have come to Kabul with a list of demands, but this is just the beginning of discussions, and we cannot reach a conclusion about the talks at this time," said the spokesman, Aimal Faizi.

Major offensive Afghan forces with air support from NATO combed through the country's mountainous northeast in their third day Saturday of a major offensive against militants in a province that serves as an insurgent supply route from Pakistan.

Mohammad Zareen, a spokesman for Nuristan province, said nearly 30 insurgents have been killed and at least 30 have been wounded in the operation that began Thursday night in Kamdesh district, a hotbed of the insurgency.

The offensive comes at the beginning of Afghanistan's spring fighting season. The government and the US-led coalition are expected to step up their operations as temperatures warm across the nation.

"Kamdesh is an important and strategic place for insurgents in eastern Afghanistan," Zareen said. "It's the main way for insurgents to supply insurgents across eastern Afghanistan. Unfortunately, we have control of some parts of Kamdesh, but not all." Afghan officials say that one policeman and a woman have been killed in the fighting, with another four Afghan soldiers and another woman wounded.

A unit of an unknown number of Afghan commandos and about 400 Afghan policemen are conducting the operation, and another 200 police are soon to join them.

"This time we're not going to just conduct a big operation and leave," Zareen said, adding that government-backed forces have now gained control of the main road through Kamdesh for the first time in years. "After clearing the area, we will set up extra checkpoints to help maintain peace for the people." In a statement released Saturday, the Afghan Defense Ministry said it launched the operation because residents were complaining that insurgents were becoming more active in the area.

"The commandoes descended into the area by helicopters," the ministry said. "Other Afghan army units are on alert in nearby Nangarhar and Kunar provinces if there is any need for reinforcements."