Donald Trump makes surprise trip to Afghanistan on Thanksgiving, saying Taliban peace talks have resumed
- Insurgents want ceasefire, says US president, whose visit comes a week after prisoner swap between Washington and Kabul
- Trump met Afghan leader Ashraf Ghani and served turkey to US troops
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had resumed talks with Taliban insurgents as he made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with troops.
On a brief visit to the Bagram airbase outside the capital Kabul, Trump served turkey to soldiers in a cafeteria, posed for photographs and delivered a speech after meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
“The Taliban wants to make a deal and we’re meeting with them and we’re saying it has to be a cease fire and … now they do want to do a ceasefire,” he told reporters.
About 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, 18 years after the United States invaded in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“There’s nowhere I’d rather celebrate this Thanksgiving than right here with the toughest, strongest, best and bravest warriors on the face of the earth,” Trump, on his first trip to Afghanistan, told the troops.
