ISLAMABAD – US President Donald Trump made a secret visit to Kabul,Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump made a surprise Thanksgiving visit to U.S. troopsin Afghanistan on Thursday and said he believed Taliban insurgents wouldagree to a ceasefire in America’s longest war.
Trump‘s visit was his first to Afghanistan since becoming president andcame a week after a prisoner swap between Washington and Kabul that hasraised hopes for a long elusive peace deal.
“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we are meeting with them,” Trump toldreporters after arriving in Afghanistan after an overnight flight from theUnited States, kept secret for security reasons.
“We say it has to be a ceasefire and they didn’t want to do a ceasefire andnow they want to do a ceasefire, I believe. It will probably work out thatway.”
Taliban leaders have told Reuters that the group has again been holdingmeetings with senior U.S. officials in Doha since last weekend, adding theycould soon resume formal peace talks.
The Air Force One presidential plane touched down at Bagram Airfield latein the evening on Thursday, with White House national security adviserRobert O’Brien, a small group of aides and Secret Service agents. Twosurveillance blimps flew overhead.
Trump met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and served turkey to some U.S.troops before sitting down to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them. He chattedand had his picture taken with some of the U.S. forces deployed there.
“What a great job you do. It’s an honor to be here,” he said.
RARE WAR ZONE VISIT
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It was only the second trip to a war zone by a U.S. president who neverserved in the military and has often derided U.S. engagement in foreignconflicts as costly blunders. He traveled to Iraq in 2018 for a Christmasholiday visit with troops.
Trump was greeted upon his arrival by U.S. Army General Mark Milley,chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley said on Wednesday that asuccessful outcome from peace talks on ending the 18-year warin Afghanistan could happen in the “near term.”
Trump has wanted to end U.S. involvement in Afghanistan since his days as apresidential candidate.
But talks between the Taliban and the United States collapsed in Septemberafter Trump called off a planned meeting with Taliban leaders at the U.S.Camp David presidential retreat, citing a surge in Taliban violence.
The U.S. military says it has ramped up strikes and raids on the Talibansince then, in a bid to pressure the insurgents back to the negotiatingtable.
Hopes for peace rose earlier this month, when the Taliban released Americanand Australian hostages.
But Ghani underscored the need for a halt in the fighting, saying onTwitter after meeting Trump: “If the Taliban are sincere in theircommitment to reaching a peace deal, they must accept a ceasefire.”
