U.S. inches closer to ending 18-year Afghanistan conflict

Talks between the Taliban and United States over ending the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan made headway over a draft agreement on American troop withdrawals and counterterrorism promises.

Two issues remain outstanding after the 14-day talks that ended Tuesday night between U.S. negotiations led by envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and senior Taliban officials in Doha, Qatar — a cease-fire agreement and dialogue with the Afghan government, which the Taliban sees as illegitimate.

Both sides are “quite serious in reaching an agreement that could end the war,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former senior Taliban official in Kabul who is in contact with the insurgents. “Their meeting ended with hopes and optimism.” Agha said that both sides may meet again next month, though neither has confirmed when the next set of talks will take place.

Washington has increased efforts to end its longest war through negotiations in the past year. Regular attacks by the Taliban and fighting between insurgents and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s troops have displaced 1.7 million people and killed tens of thousands. Meanwhile, the Taliban, which controls or contests half of the Afghan territory, intensified its attack on government forces amid the talks.

While both sides didn’t flesh out the details of the draft accords, they have sparred over the trooppullout timeline. The Taliban wants the U.S. to leave the country within a year; Washington has pushed for three to five years and assurances the Taliban wouldn’t allow terror groups to use Afghanistan as a base.