WASHINGTON – United States President Donald Trump has decided to pull asignificant number of troops from Afghanistan, a US official told *AFP* onThursday, with some reports suggesting as many as 50 per cent could leavethe war-torn country.
The surprise move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and officials inKabul who are involved in an intensifying push to end the 17-year conflict.
“If you’re the Taliban, Christmas has come early,” a senior foreignofficial in the Afghan capital told *AFP* on the condition of anonymity.
“Would you be thinking of a ceasefire if your main opponent has justwithdrawn half their troops?”
It is not clear if US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad or the Afghan governmenthad been aware of Trump’s plans.
A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani said “if there is any reaction bythe Afghan government, we will share it later”.
The decision apparently came after Khalilzad met with the Taliban in AbuDhabi this week, part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring Taliban tonegotiating table with the Afghan government.
They are believed to have discussed issues including the group’slongstanding demand for a pullout of foreign troops and a ceasefire.
“That decision has been made. There will be a significant withdrawal,” theAmerican official told *AFP* on condition of anonymity.
Trump made his decision on Tuesday, the same time he told the Pentagon hewanted to pull all US forces out of Syria and as talks were ongoing in AbuDhabi.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis quit earlier on Thursday, saying his viewswere no longer reconcilable with Trump’s.
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Critics suggest the president’s twin foreign policy decisions on Syria andAfghanistan could unspool a series of cascading and unpredictable eventsacross the Middle East and in Afghanistan.
The US has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan working either with a Natomission to support Afghan forces or in separate counter-terrorismoperations.
*The Wall Street Journal* reported that more than 7,000 troops would bereturning from Afghanistan.
Mattis and other top military advisers last year persuaded Trump to committhousands of new troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban are slaughteringlocal forces in record numbers and making major territorial gains.
Trump at the time said his instinct was to get out of Afghanistan.
The pullout comes as the US spearheads international efforts to end the warwith the Taliban, which was toppled from power in a US-led invasion in 2001.
Khalilzad, who has met with Taliban representatives several times in recentmonths, has expressed hopes for a peace deal before the Afghan presidentialelections scheduled for April.
Foreign observers and officials said Trump’s move had handed the Taliban amajor propaganda and tactical victory, without the militants having to makeany concessions. – APP/ AFP
