A US-Taliban deal for a seven-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan will apply across the country, a senior American official said Friday, unveiling details of the agreement Washington hopes will lead to a full peace accord.
The weeklong period has not yet begun but will do so “really soon”, the official said, contradicting a Taliban suggestion it would start on Friday.
The partial truce came after more than a year of gruelling talks between US officials and the jihadists as they seek an end to what has become the US s longest war.
“The reduction of violence agreement is very specific. And… it s nationwide and it includes the Afghans,” the official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US military, which has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will monitor the reduction in violence to ensure the Taliban upholds its commitments, the official said at the Munich Security Conference.
Some kind of communication channel between the US military and the Taliban is foreseen to address any problems that arise, including possible “false flag” attempts by outside actors to sabotage the accord.
“We will be monitoring, there will be verification associated with it to see if the Taliban deliver — if the Taliban deliver on their commitments we have commitments, in terms of reduction of forces that are also specific,” the official said.
The Taliban has long demanded the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan but the official said any reduction in numbers will depend on the militants sticking to their side of the deal.
The official added that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a “very good meeting” to brief Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on the deal on the sidelines of the Munich conference.
If the partial truce holds, the hope is that it could lead to a next stage of negotiations — between the Taliban and the Kabul government, with an eventual comprehensive peace deal the ultimate goal.
President Donald Trump hailed the reduction in violence as a sign that a fuller accord was “very close”.
But there have been previous false dawns, with a deal all but complete in September before Trump nixed it at the last moment amid continued Taliban violence.
Washington and its NATO allies have been adamant that they will not allow Afghanistan to become a launchpad for terror attacks in the West.
Facing an election later this year, Trump last month renewed his vow to bring troops home from Afghanistan, more than 18 years after the US invaded to overthrow the Taliban.
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The United States has secured a seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan that it hopes will allow it to strike a deal with the Taliban, officials said on Thursday.
The announcement came a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reported “notable progress” in negotiations with the militants.
“The United States and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence,” US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said after a Nato meeting in Brussels.
“We’ve said all along that the best, if not the only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on that front and we’ll have more to report on that soon, I hope.”
Esper did not say when the partial truce would begin, but on Wednesday a Taliban official had said the group would begin a “reduction of violence” on Friday.
Pompeo says peace talks have made real progress in the last few days
“It is our view that seven days for now is sufficient but in all things our approach to this process will be conditions based, I will say it again, conditions based,” Esper said.
“So it will be a continual evaluative process as we move forward, if we go forward.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters on board a plane to the Munich Security Conference where he is expected to meet Ghani, said talks had “made real progress over the past couple of days”. “We hope we can get to a place where we can get a significant reduction in violence not only on a piece of paper but demonstrated, the capability to actually deliver a serious reduction in violence in Afghanistan,” he said.
“If we can get there, if we can hold that posture for a while, then we’ll be able to begin the real, serious discussion, which is all the Afghans sitting at a table, finding a true reconciliation, a path forward.”
Washington and the Afghan militants have been locked in gruelling talks that have stretched over more than a year, seeking an end to what has already become America’s longest war.
Citing Afghan and US officials, the New York Times had reported that President Donald Trump had given conditional approval to a deal with the Taliban to allow him to start withdrawing US troops.
“It will be a difficult set of conversations, one that’s long overdue,” Pompeo said. “It would also give us the opportunity to reduce the footprint not only for America’s forces there but for all forces.”
The United States currently has between 12,000 and 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, more than 18 years after it invaded the country to overthrow the then Taliban government in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks.
The only other time there has been a Taliban ceasefire since the government’s overthrow was in 2018, during the three days of Eidul Fitr.
It led to moving scenes such as Afghans sharing ice cream with Taliban fighters and snapping selfies. But afterwards, the violence resumed.
The number of clashes between the militants and US-backed government forces jumped to record levels in the last quarter of 2019, according to a recent US government watchdog report.
