Washington DC
United States President Donald Trump on Saturday hailed the signing of a historic deal with the Taliban that Washington hopes will mark the beginning of the end of its longest war, and said he would meet Taliban leaders “in the not so distant future.”
The US leader said he believed the Taliban were ready for peace but warned that should the deal fail to take hold, “we’ll go back.”
He said that the first withdrawals of US troops from Afghanistan are starting “immediately,” following the successful signing of a deal with the Taliban.
Asked when the drawdown would begin under the accord, Trump told journalists: “Like today, OK? Today. They’ll start immediately.”
US, Taliban sign historic deal on American withdrawal from Afghanistan
The deal signed Saturday in Doha will see US troops and the smaller numbers of foreign allies pulling out of Afghanistan within 14 months, as long as the Taliban stick to commitments to negotiate with the Western-backed government in Kabul and repel international jihadist groups.
The US, which currently has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will draw that number down to 8,600 within 135 days of the signing.
The agreement is expected to lead to a dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul government that, if successful, could ultimately see an end to the grinding 18-year conflict.
Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker Mullah Baradar signed the accord alongside Washington’s chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, in a conference room in a luxury hotel in the Qatari capital. The pair then shook hands, as people in the room shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).
The Taliban swept to power in 1996 with a hardline interpretation of Islamic sharia law, banning women from working, closing girls’ schools, and forbidding music and other entertainment.–AFP
