US, Taliban sign peace agreement
Troop withdrawal after 18-year war
THE US and the Taliban signed a peace agreement yesterday aimed at ending the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
The agreement aims to bring an end to bloodshed in Afghanistan and allowing US troops to return home from America’s longest war.
President George W Bush ordered the Us-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Some US troops serving there had not yet been born when the World Trade Centre collapsed on a day that changed how Americans see the world.
It only took a few months to topple the Taliban and send Osama bin Laden and top al-qaeda militants scrambling across the border into Pakistan, but the war dragged on for years as the US tried to establish a stable, functioning state in one of the least developed countries in the world.
The Taliban regrouped and holds sway over half the country.
The US spent more than $750 billion and on all sides the war cost tens of thousands of lives lost and permanently scarred.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo arrived in the Qatari capital, Doha, yesterday. It was likely to be an uncomfortable appearance for him, who privately told a conference of US ambassadors at the state department this week that he was going only because President Donald Trump had insisted on his participation, according to two people present.
It’s not clear if he will actually sign the agreement.
Dozens of Taliban members held a victory march in Qatar.
“Today is the day of victory, which has come with the help of Allah,” said Abbas Stanikzai, one of the Taliban’s lead negotiators, who joined the march.
Trump has repeatedly promised to get the US out of its “endless wars” in the Middle East and the withdrawal of troops could provide a boost as he seeks re-election in a nation weary of involvement in distant conflicts.
US troops are to be reduced to 8 600 from about 13 000 in the weeks following the peace deal. The withdrawal of all remaining forces within 14 months will depend on the Taliban meeting certain counter-terrorism conditions, compliance that will be assessed by the US.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg was expected in Kabul later yesterday for a separate signing ceremony with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and US defence secretary Mark Esper.
That signing is intended to show continuing Nato and US support for Afghanistan. |