DOHA: Washington and the Taliban are set to sign a deal in Doha on Saturdayto secure America’s exit from its longest war through gradually withdrawingtroops and starting talks between Kabul and the militants.
The agreement will likely be heralded as marking the start of a hopeful newera for Afghanistan, which has seen 40 years of conflict.
But what happens next is anyone’s guess, with questions swirling around theTaliban’s intentions and Afghanistan once more in the grip of a politicalcrisis threatening to plunge the impoverished country further into theabyss.
The accord comes after more than a year of talks between the Taliban andthe US that faltered repeatedly as violence raged.
While the deal’s contents have not been disclosed, it is expected to seethe Pentagon begin pulling troops from Afghanistan, where between12,000-13,000 are currently based.
The US has said an initial drawdown over the coming months would be toabout 8,600 — similar to the troop level President Donald Trump inheritedafter his 2016 election win.
Further reductions depend on how well the Taliban honour pledges to starttalks with the government of President Ashraf Ghani — who until now theyhave dismissed as a US-backed puppet — and seek a comprehensive“intra-Afghan” ceasefire and peace deal.
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The insurgents are also supposed to guarantee Afghanistan is never againused by jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the militant Islamic State toplot foreign attacks — a concept even some of Trump’s closest advisorsremain deeply sceptical of.
Saturday’s signing comes after a week-long, partial truce that has mostlyheld across Afghanistan aimed at building confidence between the warringparties and showing the Taliban can control their forces.
While isolated attacks have continued in rural areas, US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo said Tuesday that the truce period was “working”.
“We’re on the cusp of an enormous, enormous political opportunity,” he said.
More than 100,000 Afghan civilians have been killed or injured over thepast decade. -APP/AFP
