AFGHAN ENDGAME
U.S. set to pull out as violence ‘tapers off’
MANILA — A recently dismissed security guard freed dozens of hostages and was subdued by police after walking out of a shopping mall in the Philippine capital on Monday, ending a daylong hostage crisis in an upscale commercial district near the police and military headquarters, officials said.
The former guard at the Greenhills shopping center, identified by cops as Archie Paray, left the mall in San Juan City in metropolitan Manila with the remaining hostages, who were then secured by police. Several others had managed to escape earlier, cops said.
“Everyone is in shock, very traumatized. We’ll have to give them time to recover,” said San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora, who ordered an investigation, including into how the suspect was able to enter the mall with a pistol and grenades.
Instead of being immediately arrested, the suspect was allowed to speak for several minutes to journalists and authorities to describe his grievances against his former bosses, whom he accused of corruption and abuse, before police approached and subdued him.
WASHINGTON — Warning that it will be a “long, windy, bumpy road” to peace in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday he has approved the start of an American troop withdrawal even as the Taliban said it would continue attacks against Afghan forces.
At a Pentagon news conference, Esper said he wasn’t sure if the drawdown had begun, but he said it must start within 10 days of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement announced Saturday. Esper said Gen. Scott Miller, the U.S. commander in Kabul, will begin the withdrawal to 8,600 troops from nearly 13,000, and then will assess conditions.
The agreement with the
Taliban followed a seven-day “reduction in violence” period that, from the Trump administration’s viewpoint, was meant to test the Taliban’s seriousness about moving toward a final peace agreement.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there is no expectation that violence in Afghanistan will “go to zero” quickly. Esper said the U.S. expects violence will “taper off,” leading to a start by March 10 of negotiations among Afghan groups, including the Taliban.
At the White House, Trump was asked if he thought talks would begin as planned next week.
“Well, we’re going to find out. But we’re getting out. We want to get out,.” he said.
The Taliban military commission Monday issued an order to its fighters on the ground to resume attacks against Afghan forces and the “the Kabul puppet administration,” but not against foreigners.
There were reports of an attack in the eastern province of Khost, but Milley said it was not yet clear who was responsible. That area is known for Taliban activity, but other groups could be responsible.