The Biden administration said it will review a landmark United States dealwith the Taliban link, focusing on whetherthe insurgent group has reduced attacks in Afghanistan, in keeping with itsside of the agreement.
Washington struck a deal with the Taliban in Qatar last year, to beginwithdrawing its troops in return for security guarantees from the militantsand a commitment to kickstart peace talks with the Afghan government.
The US had committed to reducing the number of its troops in Afghanistanfrom 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days of signing the deal, and working withits allies to proportionally reduce the number of coalition forces inAfghanistan over the same period. Currently, there are 2,500 US troops inAfghanistan.
But violence across Afghanistan has surged despite the two sides engagingin those talks since September.
President Joe Biden’s newly appointed national security adviser, JakeSullivan, spoke with his Afghan counterpart Hamdullah Mohib and “made clearthe United States’ intention to review” the deal, said National SecurityCouncil spokeswoman Emily Horne late on Friday.
Specifically, Washington wants to check that the Taliban are “living up to[their] commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violencein Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghangovernment and other stakeholders”, her statement continued.
It added that Sullivan “underscored that the US will support the peaceprocess with a robust and regional diplomatic effort, which will aim tohelp the two sides achieve a durable and just political settlement andpermanent ceasefire”. Sullivan also discussed US’ support for protectingrecent progress made on women and minority groups’ rights as part of thepeace process.
The statement is in line with Biden’s stance on Afghanistan, who has statedthat while he would reduce the number of combat troops in Afghanistan, hewould not withdraw US military presence.
Biden’s nominee for state secretary, Anthony Blinken, had also hintedearlier this week that an increase in violence in Afghanistan may lead toUS retaining some of it troops.
“We want to retain some capacity to deal with any resurgence of terrorism,which is what brought us there in the first place,” Blinken said in hisconfirmation hearing. “We have to look carefully at what has actually beennegotiated. I haven’t been privy to it yet.”
He added, however, that “we want to end this so-called forever war”.
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When contacted about Horne’s statement, the Taliban said they remained“committed to the agreement and honour our commitments”.
“We expect the other side to remain committed to the agreement too,”Mohammad Naeem, the group’s spokesman in Qatar, told *AFP*.
Washington’s move was met with a sigh of relief from officials in Kabulafter months of speculation over how the new administration wouldpotentially recalibrate the Afghan policy.
Mohib, the Afghan national security adviser, tweeted that during the callthe two sides “agreed to work toward a permanent ceasefire and a just anddurable peace” in the country.
Another top Afghan government official lambasted the Taliban’s failure tolive up to the February 2020 deal, saying the agreement had failed toachieve its stated goals.
“The agreement so far, did not deliver a desired goal of ending Taliban’sviolence and bringing a ceasefire desired by the Afghans,” Sediq Sediqqi,Deputy Interior Minister and former spokesman to President Ashraf Ghanisaid on Twitter.
“The Taliban did not live up to [their] commitments.”
Deadly attacks and high-profile assassinations have increased in recentmonths, particularly in Kabul where several journalists, activists, judgesand politicians have been murdered in brazen daylight attacks.
The Taliban have denied responsibility for these killings, but Afghan andUS officials have blamed the group for the murders. – APP/AFP
