US troops pull out of Afghanistan as Taliban peace deal moves forward

The United States has begun withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, taking a step forward in its peace deal with the Taliban.

Officials also praised Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners after he had delayed for more than a week.

The US-Taliban deal signed on February 29 was touted as Washington’s effort to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan. The next crucial step was to be intra-Afghan talks in which all factions, including the Taliban, would negotiate a road map for their country’s future.

But Mr Ghani and his main political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday. Mr Abdullah and the elections complaints commission had alleged fraud in last year’s vote.

The duelling inaugurations have thrown plans for talks with the Taliban into chaos, although Mr Ghani said yesterday that he would start putting together a negotiating team.

The disarray on the Afghan government side is indicative of the uphill task facing Washington’s peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, as he tries to get Afghanistan’s bickering leadership to come together.

Mr Khalilzad said on Twitter that he hoped the two leaders can “come to an agreement on an inclusive and broadly accepted government. We will continue to assist”.

US military spokesman in Afghanistan Sonny Leggett said the military has begun its “conditions-based reduction of forces to 8,600 over 135 days”.

Currently, the US has about 13,000 soldiers in Afghanistan - 8,000 of whom are involved in training and advising Afghanistan’s National Security Forces, while about 5,000 are involved in anti-terror operations and militarily supporting the Afghan army when they are requested.

AP. Picture: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the agreement signing between Taliban and U.S. officials.