WASHINGTON: The Pentagon has been briefed on plans to withdraw U.S. troopsfrom Afghanistan but no orders have been given to begin such operations,officials said Monday.
The acknowledgment came as news reports cited progress in talks between theU.S. and Taliban at reaching a peaceful conclusion to the war inAfghanistan.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told Pentagon reporters thatthere have been “encouraging conversations going on with the Taliban” andthat his meetings this week are “making sure we stay in tight coordinationwith our coalition partners” on all developments.
Shanahan said he has been briefed on all scenarios for Afghanistan. Askedif he had been tasked to prepare for a full withdrawal he told reportersMonday, “I have not.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who met Shanahan Monday at thePentagon, agreed on the positive outlook.
“We welcome the talks with Taliban,” he said. “We are encouraged in what wesee now.”
On Monday, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that negotiators forthe U.S. and the Taliban meeting in Qatar reached “agreements in principle”on key points for a peace plan to end 17 years of war in Afghanistan,according to multiple news reports.
The Afghan government did not participate in the six days of talks.
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Khalilzad said under the deal, US forces would leave Afghanistan once acease-fire is in place and the Taliban has started talks with the Afghangovernment.
In his statement released by the U.S. Embassy, Khalilzad said, “We madeprogress on vital issues in our discussions and agreed to agreements inprinciple on a couple of very important issues,” Khalilzad said in astatement released by the U.S. embassy in Kabul. “There is a lot more workto be done before we can say we have succeeded in our efforts but I believefor the first time I can say that we have made significant progress.”
Shanahan said he concurred with Khalilzad’s assessment.
“The takeaway right now is encouraging and we’ll let Secretary (of StateMike) Pompeo and the ambassador be the spokespersons for that,” Shanahansaid.
Courtesy: (talkmedianews.com)
