KABUL - In a big victory for Afghan Taliban, US agrees on full withdrawal of US Troops from Afghanistan.
The ninth round of the negotiations between the US and the Taliban on Saturday completed its third day with progress on a full withdrawal of foreign troops within 15 to 20 months as well as counterterrorism assurances from the Taliban side, sources familiar with the talks said, TOLONEWS has reported.
The sources said the two sides will sign the peace deal within the next few days which will be followed by intra-Afghan negotiations.
As part of a peace deal, the number of US forces will reduce to 5,000 from the current 14,000, sources said. The troops will be withdrawn from five American bases, which according to President Ghani, they are “small bases” and the reduction will not impact the situation of Afghanistan.
This comes as a former member of the Taliban says the agreement between the US and the Taliban will be finalized within the next few days as the ninth round of the negotiations began in Doha on Thursday.
Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as Taliban’s ambassador for Pakistan when the group ruled the country in the late 1990s, told TOLOnews on Friday that the deputy leader of the group, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will sign the peace agreement with the United States.