Tag: Taliban

U.S. reportedly reaches Afghanistan truce with Taliban

Axios logoThe U.S. reached an initial deal with the Taliban on Friday that could begin a drawdown of American troops from Afghanistan, AP reports, citing a senior U.S. official.

The big picture: Top administration officials, including President Trump, had signaled that an agreement could be reached soon, allowing America’s 18-year war in Afghanistan to end after thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars spent. But previous attempts to leave Afghanistan have not panned out.

What we know: The “very specific” deal calls for a seven-day “reduction of violence” covering the entire country, to act as the precursor to all-Afghan peace talks within 10 days, a U.S. official said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

  • Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday that the U.S. and Taliban had “negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence.”
  • The full conditions remain unclear. If the administration deems they’ve been met, it would then withdraw some troops and the Taliban would enter negotiations with the Afghan government about the country’s political future.
  • A U.S. exit likely wouldn’t mean an end to the fighting. The Taliban have been unwilling to lay down their arms, rebuffing calls for a ceasefire during negotiations. Continue reading.

In Afghanistan, Trump Creates Confusion Over U.S. Policy on Taliban

New York Times logoThe president said stalled talks with the militant group were back on and called for a cease-fire — something his negotiators had deemed unrealistic.

KABUL, Afghanistan — After abruptly axing nearly a year of delicate peace talks with the Taliban in September, President Trump put the negotiations back on the front-burner this week in a similarly jolting fashion by seeming to demand a cease-fire that his negotiators had long concluded was overly ambitious.

Despite a sense of relief at the prospect of resuming talks to end the 18-year conflict, Western diplomats and Taliban leaders were scrambling to figure out whether Mr. Trump had suddenly moved the goal posts for negotiations.

They were particularly confused by his remarks, made during an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, that the United States was once again meeting with the Taliban to discuss a deal, but that “we’re saying it has to be a cease-fire.”

View the complete November 29 article by Mujib Mashal on The New York Times website here.

Pentagon knew peace-talks fund would ‘likely’ benefit Taliban

Document suggests some money would give ‘material support to terrorists’

Pentagon leaders formally asked Congress in writing earlier this year for a $30 million fund to support peace talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban, even though, the Defense Department officials wrote, it was “likely” some of the money would materially support terrorists.

The legislative proposal, obtained by CQ Roll Call, suggests that the fiscal 2020 money to cover logistics involved in the negotiations may directly or indirectly provide financial support to violent groups in Afghanistan that have been fighting Americans and their own countrymen, including in targeted attacks on civilians, for nearly 18 years.

A Pentagon spokeswoman, Cdr. Rebecca Rebarich, confirmed the authenticity of the document and acknowledged for the first time that taxpayer money may soon be spent to support insurgents’ participation in peace talks.

View the complete May 17 article by John M. Donnelly on The Roll Call website here.