Americans pull out of Afghanistan: US and Taliban sign historic agreement

The United States and the radical Taliban have reached an agreement designed to begin the peace process in Afghanistan and end the longest war in American history, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and cost billions of dollars, writes Air force.

Photo: facebook / The White House

The US hopes through an agreement to end the 20-year conflict and return home 13 troops stationed in Afghanistan.

The agreement says:

• US withdraws troops in 14 months if Taliban comply with agreement
• After signing the agreement, negotiations should begin between the Taliban and the Afghan government
• The Taliban will not allow any of its members, including al-Qaeda, to use the territory of Afghanistan to undermine the security of the United States and its allies
• The US and the Government of Afghanistan will release 5 thousand prisoners, the Taliban - up to a thousand prisoners by March 10

“The United States, its allies and the coalition will complete the withdrawal of remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months of the announcement of this joint declaration and the conclusion of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban,” the agreement says.

US troops entered Afghanistan almost 19 years ago after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This is the longest military campaign in American history. During the conflict, more than 2400 US soldiers died.

Many observers called the agreement quite risky for the administration of President Donald Trump, because in essence it legitimizes the Taliban in the eyes of the international community. But for millions of Afghans, this agreement is a chance for a peaceful life after four decades of wars and civil strife.

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The promise to end the war in Afghanistan was one of the key to Trump's campaign. At the same time, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper assured that the US is ready to annul the agreement if something goes wrong.

The agreement, the parties hope, will help reduce the level of violence in Afghanistan and resolve the political crisis in the country. At the same time, according to experts, the inter-Afghan negotiations will be much harder than the current ones.

The President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, expressed the hope that, through the agreement, the ceasefire in Afghanistan would become permanent.

A delegation of 31 members of the radical movement arrived in Doha to sign the agreement, as well as Secretary of State Mark Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"Violence Reduction Mode"

From February 22, a “violence reduction regime” was in effect in Afghanistan for a week. This week was supposed to be a kind of test of how much the Taliban can control its forces and fulfill its obligations after the agreement was concluded. Washington previously promised that if the seven-day truce proves effective, the United States will in the near future reduce its military contingent in Afghanistan to 8,6 thousand people.

“With the successful implementation of this agreement, it is expected that the signing of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban will move forward.” We are preparing for signing on February 29,” Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

Photo: Shutterstock

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which since 2009 has been counting the dead and injured in this Islamic Republic, over the past 10 years, 35 civilians have died there, and another 65 have been injured.

Last summer, the UN published a report saying that in the first half of 2019, the Afghan army and NATO troops killed more civilians in Afghanistan than the Taliban and the Islamic State (an organization banned in Russia). According to the UN, from January to June last year, 717 civilians were killed in Afghanistan by pro-government forces and NATO troops, and 531 by militants of anti-government forces, including the Taliban and IS units. This is the first time such a picture has been observed since the UN began counting civilian casualties in Afghanistan more than 10 years ago.

Direct US negotiations with the Taliban began in 2018, after 18 years of confrontation. The Taliban demands the withdrawal of American troops and an end to the use of Afghan territory as a base for missions in other countries.

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The main stage of negotiations between the United States and the Taliban lasted several months in 2019. During eight rounds of talks, the US representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the delegation of the Taliban political office in Doha agreed on a draft peace treaty that included a ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the start of general inter-Afghan peace talks.

However, in September, after a series of terrorist attacks committed by the Taliban in Kabul and a number of other cities, among the victims of which was an American military man, Donald Trump ordered the termination of negotiations with the Taliban and the cancellation of the signing of the agreement.

Trump's unannounced visit to Afghanistan

In late November, U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Afghanistan with an unannounced visit. It was reported that he came to meet with the US military serving in this country and congratulate them on Thanksgiving. This was his first visit to Afghanistan. Trump arrived in Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban released two foreigners - American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, captured in 2016.

Photo: facebook / The White House

During his trip to Afghanistan, Trump met with his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani. After talks with Ghani, Trump said the Taliban were committed to a peace deal. “They [the Taliban] did not want to cease fire. Now they want to cease fire. And I believe it will work,” Trump said then. During his visit to Afghanistan, Donald Trump also said that the United States would significantly reduce its military presence in this country.

In mid-January, it was reported that the Taliban had handed over a document to the US representative for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, with proposals for establishing a temporary ceasefire in Afghanistan for a period of seven to ten days. The Taliban representative in Qatar confirmed the resumption of negotiations between the movement and Washington.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the agreement between the United States and the Taliban on the introduction of a “violence reduction regime” in Afghanistan and the parties’ intention to sign an agreement. According to the NATO Secretary General, the reduction in violence and the agreement between the United States and the Taliban opens the way to negotiations between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban.

Why is it difficult to negotiate with the Taliban?

The main problem is that the Taliban refuse on principle to negotiate with Kabul. The message of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in 2018, proposing to recognize the Taliban as a political movement and begin negotiations without preconditions, pointedly remained unanswered.

At the same time, the Taliban cannot defeat government troops, the Western contingent and seize power.

Another problem is organizing negotiations with the Taliban. The Taliban is represented by representatives of the movement in Doha, but the “Politburo of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” although it has a certain independence, does not reflect the position of the entire movement with its rather complex network structure. Certain Taliban groups, in principle, are committed to negotiations, but others, on the contrary, oppose negotiations.

Previous negotiations between the United States and the Taliban ended in 2015 after the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who agreed to the negotiation process, became known.

In 2013, an attempt to negotiate failed when the Taliban raised the flag of movement over their office in Qatar, which angered the then acting president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, who considered it undermining his authority.

RF: “an important event”

Russia called the signing of the agreement between the United States and the Taliban "an important event for the peace process in Afghanistan." As previously reported, the special representative of the Russian President for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, intends to attend the signing ceremony of the agreement. Moscow has previously expressed support for negotiations.

“The Russian side has repeatedly stated that there is no alternative to political and diplomatic methods of resolving the conflict in Afghanistan, supporting the aforementioned negotiations, which should open the way to the start of a direct inclusive inter-Afghan dialogue on peace and achieving a political settlement in this country,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The Russian authorities and the Taliban, banned in Russia, have been negotiating for a long time. Taliban delegations came to Moscow three times - twice in 2019 and once in 2018.

In the framework of this negotiation process, representatives of the Afghan authorities, including President Hamid Karzai (2004–2014), also arrived in the capital of the Russian Federation.

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