The Taliban have agreed to reduce violence in Afghanistan for seven days
Brussels – News Time
The Taliban has agreed to reduce violent operations in Afghanistan for seven days, which the US hopes will soon reach an agreement with the Taliban. An American official announced his consent to the ceasefire, a day before Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signaled a significant breakthrough in talks with the militants. According to a report published in the newspaper, after the NATO summit in Brussels, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that the US and the Taliban discussed a seven-day reduction in violent operations. He further said that we all say that Afghanistan’s solution is a political compromise which is best if not the only solution, progress has been made in this regard and we will tell you more about it soon.
However, the US Secretary of Defense did not specify when the temporary ceasefire would begin however, a Taliban official said a day earlier that he would cut down on violent acts from Friday. Mark Esper added that 7 days is enough in our view, but our point of view in relation to all these things depends on the situation, I will say once again that the situation depends. They said that if we move forward, as we move forward, it will be a continuous process.
On the other hand, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that there had been real progress in the talks over the past few days. He added that we hope we can reach a level where we can see a clear reduction not only on paper but also in practice. Mike Pompeo said that if we got there and could maintain the situation for a while, we could start a real and serious dialogue. In which all Afghans (parties) will be at a table in search of a way forward and a real reconciliation.
Meanwhile, US newspaper The New York Times reported quoting US and Taliban officials that President Donald Trump has conditionally approved a deal with the Taliban. So they can start evacuating US forces. Mike Pompeo said that this would be a complex period of negotiation that had been pending for a long time, which would allow us to reduce the footprint of not only US but all forces. Remember that the US invaded Afghanistan after the New York Twin Towers attack in September 2001. After 18 years, there are still 12 to 13,000 US troops in the war-torn country.
Before US President Donald Trump took office, he promised that he would withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. Therefore, talks between the United States and the Taliban began in September 2018 to pave the way for the withdrawal of troops and end the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The talks stalled the death of US troops in the Taliban attack last year, but the talks were restored in December. After that the prospects for a two-way agreement are now clear.
