U.S., Taliban reported to strike deal on truce
No date yet for ‘reduction in violence’
U.S. officials confirmed Friday that an agreement has been reached with the Taliban for a seven-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan but declined to say when the nationwide pause would begin.
The official said the agreement is “very specific” and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend.
The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban had committed to a halt in roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks. The official said the U.S. would monitor the truce and determine if there were any violations.
Should the Taliban comply, the reduction-in-violence agreement would be followed by the signing of a second agreement between the United States and the Taliban. That agreement,
culminating 16 months of talks, would initiate the peace negotiations and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
A Taliban official familiar with the deal said the second agreement would be signed on Feb. 29 and the Afghan talks would begin on March 10. The official said Germany and Norway have offered to host the talks but there has been no decision on the venue.
That Taliban official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Feb. 29 agreement would provide for the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners before the start of the negotiations.
To make good on its promise to release Taliban prisoners, Washington is going to need Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who has been critical of the way U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has conducted the talks, complaining about being kept in the dark.
Ghani also has bickered with his partner in the current unity government, Abdullah Abdullah, over who will represent Kabul at the negotiating table.
Ghani has insisted he lead the talks, while his political opponents and other prominent Afghans have called for more inclusive representation at the negotiating table.
The Taliban and those familiar with the details of the Afghan negotiations say the representatives from Kabul will include government officials but they will sit across from the Taliban as ordinary Afghans and not as government representatives.
The broader agreement is nearly identical to one negotiated in September that was canceled by President Donald Trump after a Taliban attack killed a U.S. soldier before it was signed.
The newly negotiated weeklong reduction includes Taliban, U.S. and Afghan forces.
“Now we have an agreement on the reduction of violence,” said a senior Trump administration official, who briefed reporters in Munich after a meeting there between Ghani and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In comments earlier this week, Defense Secretary Mike Esper said it also would cover U.S. airstrikes and other activities. Esper also attended the Munich meeting, along with the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin Miller, and Khalilzad, the chief U.S. negotiator with the Taliban.
Miller has said that U.S. officials can conduct their missions of training and supporting Afghan security forces and counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State, al-Qaida and other groups, with about twothirds of the current force of about 13,000.
Initial reductions under the agreement would lower that number to 8,600. Further reductions, U.S. officials have said, would be “conditions-based,” depending on Taliban compliance with other terms of the agreement and progress in the inter-Afghan talks.
A senior U.S. military officer told a small group of reporters that U.S. counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida will continue, separate from the truce agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive aspects of military operations ahead of an expected announcement of the U.S.-Taliban deal.
He also said the United States has sufficient intelligence-gathering assets to be able to determine within the seven-day period whether the Taliban are making a good-faith effort to reduce violence, even if some limited violence persists.
A truce had been widely anticipated, and Trump agreed in principle to the deal, according to U.S. officials.
The final details were hammered out in recent days by Khalilzad and Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar.