Peace with Taliban in Afghanistan appears to be closer than ever

KABUL, Afghanistan — Seventeen years after the U.S. military-led invasion of Afghanistan — after the deaths of more than 2,400 American troops, tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police and untold numbers of civilians — the prospect of a truce with the Taliban appears to be inching closer to reality.

Six days of talks in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar ended over the weekend with a commitment by U.S. and Taliban negotiators to reconvene soon and the outlines of a deal under which all 14,000 U.S. troops would depart Afghanistan within 18 months.

The talks still don’t include the Afghan government, whose leader, President Ashraf Ghani, on Monday warned against a precipitous troop withdrawal and insisted that any peace agreement must be Afghan-led.

But the longest face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Taliban representatives has raised hopes that a deal will be reached.

Here’s a rundown of where the talks stand and why many feel this is their best chance of success:

Q:

What have the U.S. and Taliban agreed to?

A:

Nothing, yet, except that they will meet again for another round of discussions, perhaps as soon as next month.

But sources briefed by Taliban negotiators said the two sides agreed to the outlines of a deal focused on a few key points.

According to these individuals, who were not authorized to speak to the media, the Trump administration would agree to a withdrawal of all foreign troops and the lifting of an international travel ban on top Taliban leaders.

In exchange, the Taliban would pledge that Afghanistan not be used as a base for attacks against foreign countries. The Taliban’s sheltering of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda is what prompted President George W. Bush to order U.S. troops into Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Also on the table — though not agreed to — are a proposed cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners that is likely to include American Kevin King, a university professor kidnapped by the Taliban in 2016.

“The two sides finally agreed on certain important issues,” one source close to the Taliban said.

U.S. officials would not discuss details. But Zalmay Khalilzad, President Trump’s point man in the peace process, tweeted: “Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issues.”

Q:

Who is involved in the talks?

A:

Khalilzad, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul, has injected urgency into a long-stalled peace effort with the Taliban.

Appointed in September with a mandate to end a war that President Trump had tired of — despite sending thousands more troops into Afghanistan last year — the Afghan-born Khalilzad has zigzagged across South Asia, the Middle East and Europe to build support for an agreement.

Perhaps more important, however, is who is sitting on the other side.

Last week, the Taliban announced a new chief negotiator: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former No. 2 in the extremist group who was close to its founding leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

A decade ago, Baradar sought a peace deal with the Afghan government before being arrested by authorities in Pakistan, whose security establishment opposed negotiations. Pakistan quietly released Baradar late last year, following a secret meeting between Khalilzad and Taliban representatives.

Baradar’s appointment was widely seen as a sign that the Taliban was serious about reaching an agreement.

The Taliban has refused to negotiate with the elected Afghan government, describing it as a puppet of the United States. Ghani has quietly expressed frustration over the peace process moving forward without him.