In one of the biggest geostrategic developments, the United States and Afghan Taliban appear to have made an agreement on the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan – the original ground zero of war on terror – with the militant group’s commitment that it would not allow any international terrorists to operate from the landlocked country.
Citing sources privy to the development the Voice of America reported Saturday that the understanding is the outcome of nearly a week of “intense, uninterrupted dialogue between U.S. and insurgent representatives in Doha, Qatar.
Pakistan has been supporting the initiative to end the 18-year-old war on its western border.
Pakistani and Qatari government officials also reportedly attended the meeting.
“The sources told VOA they expected the two negotiating sides to announce the withdrawal plan by Monday at the latest, if all goes as planned,” a VOA report said.
The U.S. drawdown plan would require the Taliban to observe a cease-fire. Both the withdrawal and the cease-fire, however, will be “limited and conditional,” according to the report.
President Donald Trump, who took the initiative to launch a fresh bid for Afghan peace process, may unveil details of the final agreement in his State of the Union address, when it takes place.
U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, led the talks with
The Taliban chose Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as their chief negotiator.
This is a developing news story, to be followed by more lead stories.
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