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Reuters

Taliban officials said US negotiators agreed on a draft peace pact setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States’ longest war.
The details of the draft were given to Reuters by Taliban sources at the end of six days of talks with US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar aimed at ending the war, more than 17 years since American-led forces invaded Afghanistan.
It stipulates that troops would leave within 18 months of the agreement being signed.
While no joint statement was issued, Khalilzad tweeted later that the talks had made “significant progress” and would resume shortly, adding that he planned to travel to Afghanistan to meet government officials.

1/3 After six days in Doha, I'm headed to #Afghanistan for consultations. Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issues.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) January 26, 2019

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2/3. Will build on the momentum and resume talks shortly. We have a number of issues left to work out. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and “everything” must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) January 26, 2019

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>


3/3. Thanks to the Government of #Qatar for their constructive engagement and their facilitation of this round of talks. Particularly the Deputy PM and FM @MBA_AlThani_ for his personal involvement.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) January 26, 2019

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>

“Meetings here (in Qatar) were more productive than they have been in the past. We have made significant progress on vital issues,” he wrote, adding that numerous issues still needed work.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and everything must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire,” he wrote in the tweets.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday wrote on Twitter that he had received “encouraging news” from Khalilzad about the talks.
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“The US is serious about pursuing peace, preventing #Afghanistan from continuing to be a space for international terrorism & bringing forces home,” Pompeo tweeted.
He did not give a timetable for the potential withdrawal of US forces.

A Taliban statement issued later also noted progress on troop withdrawal and other issues but said more negotiations and internal consultations were required.
“The policy of the Islamic Emirate during talks was very clear – until the issue of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is agreed upon, progress in other issues is impossible,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, using another name the group calls itself.
It was not clear whether the draft described by the Taliban sources was acceptable to both sides or when it could be completed and signed.


According to the sources, the hardline Islamic group gave assurances that Afghanistan will not be allowed to be used by al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants to attack the United States and its allies – a key early demand of Washington.
They said the deal included a ceasefire provision but they had yet to confirm a timeline and would only open talks with Afghan representatives once a truce was implemented.
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Up until now, the Taliban has repeatedly rejected the Afghan government’s offer of holding talks, preferring instead to talk directly to the US side, which it regards as its main enemy.
“In 18 months, if the foreign forces are withdrawn and ceasefire is implemented, then other aspects of the peace process can be put into action,” a Taliban source said, quoting from a portion of the draft.
More talks on the draft are expected in February, again in the Qatari capital Doha, the Taliban sources said.

They expect their side to be led by new political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the movement’s co-founder and a former military commander who was released from prison in Pakistan last year.
While they said his appointment had boosted momentum for a deal, it was unclear if he had joined the talks.
News of progress on a deal comes as the Taliban continues to stage near-daily attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and its security forces.
Despite the presence of US-led foreign forces training, advising and assisting their Afghan counterparts 17 years after the US-led an invasion to drive them from power, the Taliban controls nearly half of Afghanistan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said this month that 45,000 members of the country’s security forces had been killed since he took office in 2014.
‘I will not re-enlist’: Afghan army hit by recruitment crisis over mounting casualties
The United States has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the Nato-led mission, known as Resolute Support, as well as a US counterterrorism mission directed at groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Despite reports last month that the United States was considering pulling out almost half of its forces, a White House spokesman said US President Donald Trump had not issued orders to withdraw the troops. However, the administration has not denied the reports, which have prompted fears of a fresh refugee crisis.
The Taliban sources said other clauses in the draft include an agreement over the exchange and release of prisoners, the removal of an international travel ban on several Taliban leaders by Washington and the prospect of an interim Afghan government after the ceasefire is struck.
The suggestion to appoint an interim government in Afghanistan comes as top politicians including Ghani have filed their nominations for the presidential polls in July. Ghani has repeatedly rejected the offer to agree to the formation of an interim government.
The Taliban sources also confirmed provisions in the draft that have broader implications for Afghanistan’s ties with its neighbours, particularly Pakistan, India and China.
They said the deal included provisions that separatist militants from Balochistan, a resource-rich southwestern Pakistani province, will not be allowed to use Afghan soil to target Pakistan.

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War in Afghanistan

Foreign troops to quit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft peace deal, Taliban say

epa07311954 Former insurgents surrender their weapons during a reconciliation ceremony in Herat, Afghanistan, 23 January 2019. A group of twenty former insurgents on 23 January, laid down their arms in Herat and joined the peace process. Under an amnesty launched by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and backed by the US in November 2004, hundreds of anti-government militants have surrendered to the government. EPA-EFE/JALIL REZAYEE

(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 27, 2016 former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad speaks at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. - The US confirmed on January 22, 2019, that Khalilzad is meeting in Qatar with the Taliban, seeking to negotiate an end to the Afghanistan war despite a new major attack claimed by the insurgents. Khalilzad, the US special representative on Afghan reconciliation, met Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha with Taliban representatives, the State Department said. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

US troops keep watch during an official visit in Farah province, Afghanistan. Photo: Reuters

Taliban ceasefire talks: Trump’s need to ‘bring boys home’ risks wasting lives already lost

An Afghan boy watches as US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walk during a foot patrol outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011 in Musa Qala. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan. AFP PHOTO / DMITRY KOSTYUKOV (Photo by DMITRY KOSTYUKOV / AFP) [04NOVEMBER2018 BOOKS POST MAGAZINE] CREDIT: AFP

Afghan security personnel on patrol. Photo: AP

TOPSHOT - A US soldier holds the national flag ahead of a handover ceremony at Leatherneck Camp in Lashkar Gah in the Afghan province of Helmand on April 29, 2017. US Marines returned to Afghanistan's volatile Helmand April 29, where American troops faced heated fighting until NATO's combat mission ended in 2014, as embattled Afghan security forces struggle to beat back the resurgent Taliban. The deployment of some 300 Marines to the poppy-growing southern province came one day after the militants announced the launch of their "spring offensive", and as the Trump administration seeks to craft a new strategy in Afghanistan. / AFP PHOTO / WAKIL KOHSAR

FILE PHOTO: Cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), speaks after voting in the general election in Islamabad, July 25, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File Photo

One of US President Donald Trump’s major election promises was a commitment to end US military operations abroad and “bring the boys home”. Photo: AP

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US envoy says ‘significant progress’ in peace talks with aim to end America’s longest war
Taliban and US expected to meet again next month



Taliban officials said US negotiators agreed on a draft peace pact setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months.


Afghanistan

Taliban

Foreign troops to quit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft peace deal, Taliban say

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} US envoy says ‘significant progress’ in peace talks with aim to end America’s longest war Taliban and US expected to meet again next month

US envoy says ‘significant progress’ in peace talks with aim to end America’s longest war

Taliban and US expected to meet again next month