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All U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan under peace deal

Lara Seligman - Politico — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 09:45:56 +0000

‘Conditions-based’ withdrawal will be complete in 14 months if Taliban keep commitments.

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group’s top political leader, shake hands after signing a peace agreement between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday. | Hussein Sayed/AP Photo

The United States signed a historic peace deal with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, Saturday that officials hope will mark the beginning of the end of America’s longest war. Under the deal, all U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan in 14 months if the Taliban meet their commitments.

The signing between Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban officials will set the stage for the final withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan after 19 years of violence that has killed more than 3,500 Americans and coalition troops and tens of thousands of Afghans since the U.S. invasion following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

At the height of the war, more than 100,000 American troops were in the country and tens of thousands of others from the U.S.-led NATO coalition.

President Donald Trump said of the peace negotiations at a press conference at the White House on Saturday afternoon that “we think they will be successful in the end,” adding, “I’ll be meeting personally with Taliban leaders in the not too distant future.”

In remarks in Doha, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded the peace agreement and the Taliban’s compliance with a seven-day reduction in violence that paved the way for the accord. But he cautioned that an enduring peace is contingent on the militant group fulfilling its promise to cut ties with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and sit down for intra-Afghan talks with Kabul’s government.

“This agreement will mean nothing, and today’s good feelings will not last if we don’t take concrete actions on commitments and promises that have been made,” Pompeo said. “I know there will be a temptation to declare victory. But victory — victory for Afghans — will only be achieved when they can live in peace and prosper.”

Pompeo called on the Taliban, in particular, to “embrace” the progress made on rights for women and girls in Afghanistan.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper traveled to Kabul on Saturday to appear beside Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for a joint declaration.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are finally making substantial progress toward ending our nation’s longest war,” Esper said. “Today’s release of the Joint Declaration between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States marks a pivotal moment in the peace process.”

But the agreement is only the first step to an enduring peace for the war-torn country. The U.S. withdrawal hinges on the Taliban’s fulfillment of major commitments that have hobbled peace agreements in the past, including breaking with al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups, and maintaining the reduction in violence seen over the last week, Esper said. It is also dependent on difficult negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government over power-sharing and a lasting cease-fire.

If these conditions are met, the U.S. will initially reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan from roughly 13,000 to 8,600, a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday ahead of the signing.

Esper stressed that the withdrawal is “conditions-based.”

“However, should the Taliban fail to honor their commitments, they will forfeit their chance to sit with fellow Afghans and deliberate on the future of their country,” Esper said. “Moreover, the United States would not hesitate to nullify the agreement.”

The United States has set up a “monitoring and verification process” on the ground to ensure the Taliban are meeting their commitments, the official said.

The State Department on Saturday announced that the Taliban will begin negotiations with the Afghan government on March 10, which will include a “permanent and comprehensive” ceasefire. The U.S. will also with with the two sides to begin releasing prisoners by that date.

Also on March 10, the U.S. will review its sanctions against the Taliban with the goal of ending them by Aug. 27. The agreement refers to the Taliban as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

Senior officials in the military and intelligence communities are concerned that the Taliban will not hold up its end of the deal. Many fear the administration “is putting too much stock in the promises of the Taliban and they will simply sign anything to get us to leave,” one former Trump administration official told POLITICO.

The agreement follows a seven-day reduction in violence across the country that began Feb. 22. It comes at a tense political moment in Afghanistan, after a Sept. 28 election between Ghani and Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah plagued by allegations of rigging and other irregularities. The Independent Election Commission said on Feb. 18 that Ghani had won the election, but Abdullah rejected the results and vowed to appoint a parallel government.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/29/taliban-peace-deal-afghanistan-118300

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Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly attacks in Kabul

Fox News — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 15:37:46 +0000

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the simultaneous attack on an Afghanistan news agency and a Shiite cultural center in Kabul that left at least 35 dead and 56 wounded.

The terror group said in a statement through its propaganda agency that one suicide bomber wearing a vest carried out the attack along with three other bomb blasts, Reuters reported.

No U.S. troops or coalition force members were killed in the suicide attack.

The attack occurred during a panel discussion on the December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. A number of those attending the panel were students.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said an unknown number of suicide attackers set off an explosion outside the center before storming the building when they set of more explosives in the basement.

At least one suicide bomber was able to sneak into the event and sit among the participants before detonating his device, Shiite leader Abdul Hussain Ramazandada said citing witnesses.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has called the attack on a Shiite Muslim cultural center in Kabul a “crime against humanity.”

In a statement released by the presidential palace, Ghani says: “The terrorist have killed our people. The terrorists have attacked our mosques, our holy places and now our cultural center.”

He called them attacks against Islam and “all human values.”

The center is located in the Shiite-dominated Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood in the west of the capital.

Earlier this year, the Islamic State vowed to target Afghanistan’s Shiites following an attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul. The jihadist militant group has since claimed responsibility for at least two attacks on Shiite mosques in the capital of Afghanistan, as well as one in the western city of Herat.

Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/12/28/several-dead-in-twin-attacks-in-afghan-capital-police-say.html

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Afghanistan endorses Trump’s revised strategy; Taliban warns of ‘graveyard’

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 21:43:21 +0000

The Afghan government on Tuesday embraced President Trump’s commitment to “fight to win” in Afghanistan, but the insurgent Taliban vowed the country would become a “graveyard” for U.S. troops if they don’t withdraw.

Trump said in a televised speech Monday night that he was lifting restrictions on commanders in the field imposed by the Obama administration and increasing pressure on Pakistan to stop providing a safe haven to militant groups along its border.

Cautioning against a “hasty withdrawal,” Trump will likely send several thousand more U.S. troops to the war that has dragged on for nearly 16 years. He said he wouldn’t discuss specific troop levels or deadlines.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani welcomed Trump’s “enduring commitment” in “this global conflict.”

“I am grateful to President Trump and the American people for this affirmation of support for our efforts to achieve self-reliance and for our joint effort to rid the region of the threat of terrorism,” he said in a statement.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid dismissed Trump’s strategy and said it offered “nothing new,” Al Jazeera reported.

“If America doesn’t withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, soon Afghanistan will become another graveyard for this superpower in the 21st century,” he said.

Last week, the Taliban sent an “open letter” to Trump, reiterating its calls for U.S. forces to leave Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed Trump’s new approach. More than 12,000 troops from NATO and its partner countries have been training and supporting Afghan security forces since 2015.

“NATO allies and partners have already committed to increasing our presence in Afghanistan,” Stoltenberg said. “Our aim remains to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorists who would attack our own countries.”

China defended Pakistan, its close ally. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Pakistan lies on the front line of the anti-terrorism struggle and has made “great sacrifices” in battling insurgents.

Pakistani security officials accused Trump of shifting blame for U.S. failures in the war, the Guardian reported.

Naeem Khalid Lodhi, a defense analyst and retired general in the Pakistani military, said: “They are shifting blame to Pakistan,” the Guardian reported. “Pakistan should not remain silent against such U.S. behavior and we should work to build a new political and strategical bloc with big powers like Russia and China.”

Before Trump’s speech, Pakistan’s army said it had done all it could to tackle militants.

“Let it come,” Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor told reporters of Trump’s decision, according to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. “Even if it comes … Pakistan shall do whatever is best in the national interest.”

India welcomed Trump’s demand that Pakistan stop offering safe havens to terror groups, something India has long complained of.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that it appreciated Trump’s “determination to enhance efforts to overcome the challenges faced by Afghanistan and in confronting issues of safe havens and other forms of cross-border support enjoyed by terrorists.”

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said, “The U.S. commitment is very welcome.” Britain and other European allies pledged in June to increase troops to support Afghanistan’s military.

Fallon said he talked with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday and they “agreed that despite the challenges, we have to stay the course in Afghanistan to help build up its fragile democracy and reduce the terrorist threat to the West.”

David Kilcullen, an Australian military analyst, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Trump’s speech set a “fairly low bar.”

“I think this is carefully shrouded in triumphalist rhetoric, but it is actually quite a modest set of strategic goals,” he said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/08/22/trump-afghanistan-strategy/588836001/

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