U.S., Taliban peace talks reach pact to reduce violence
The United States and the Taliban have agreed to a significant reduction in violence for seven days, a senior Trump administration official said Friday, the first step in a plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and possibly end the long war there.
A successful reduction in hostilities, though short of a blanket ceasefire, is seen as a precursor to signing a formal agreement. The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, briefed reporters in Munich after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met there with Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan.
The decrease in hostilities would be the first step in a plan leading to withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, though there have been indications that the United States would want to keep some counterterrorism and intelligence forces there.
All sides are keenly aware that there will be multiple chances for the deal to break down, but it is the closest they have come to President Trump’s goals of withdrawing many of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan and ending the United States’ longest war, which has lasted more than 18 years.
The initial sevenday reduction in violence is seen as a test not only of good intentions, but also of the ability of the Taliban and the Afghan government to rein in their forces and those of their allies, in a war made more complex by internal rivalries and local disputes.
The deal would lay out a 135day timetable for drawing down U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan from about 13,000 to 8,600; U.S. officials had indicated that they planned to make the reduction with or without an agreement in place. It calls for a complete withdrawal within three to five years.
It also calls for the start of negotiations between the government in Kabul and the Taliban — something the Taliban has long refused — on a longterm powersharing settlement. Afghan leaders have been frustrated by the United States’ acceding to the Taliban’s demand that negotiations, held over the past year in Doha, Qatar, exclude the government.
In September, American and Taliban negotiators were close to an agreement, and Trump planned to meet Taliban leaders in person, before he dropped the deal after a Taliban attack.