U.S. halts offensives in Afghanistan as part of Taliban deal
KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States has ceased offensive military operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban in accordance with an agreement to reduce violence ahead of a possible peace deal, the top U.S. military commander here announced Saturday.
Gen. Scott Miller told reporters in Kabul that “our operations are defensive at this point. We stopped our offensive operations as part of our obligations, but we remain committed to defend our forces.”
The weeklong reduction in violence is a precondition to a U.S.-Taliban peace deal both parties have said they plan to sign at the end of the month.
U.S. and Afghan officials have cautioned that the deal is fragile as there are many armed groups in Afghanistan who don’t see peace in their interest. But U.S. officials said monitoring mechanisms in place will be able to identify whether attacks are the work of “spoilers.”
Hours after the agreement went into effect, local security forces reported a number of clashes between government and Taliban forces. But Gen. Miller and senior Afghan officials said the violence dies not necessarily constitute a breach of the agreement.
Standing beside the Afghan acting minister of interior and acting minister of defense, Gen. Miller described the reduction in violence as a “trial period,” during which U.S. and Afghan government forces reserve the right to defend themselves if attacked.
“This is a conditional effort,” he said. “It’s a trial period. We are all looking at this to see that all sides are able to meet their obligations.”
If it holds, the United States and the Taliban have said they will sign a peace deal at the end of the month.