Indicating substantive progress in negotiations toward concluding the Afghan conflict, President Trump will Friday discuss withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan with his top advisers.
The discussions come after several rounds of talks between U.S. officials and Afghan Taliban representatives on ending the longest war in American history.
Pakistan has been facilitating the discussions and President Trump acknowledged Islamabad’s ongoing role in the effort during an Oval Office meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
According to The Washington Post, Trump will meet with Cabinet officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security advisers to “begin making arrangements for a step-by-step U.S. withdrawal” from Afghanistan.
US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad led talks with the Afghan Taliban, who have been fighting the Afghan government and have long demanded withdrawal of American troops for an Afghan peace accord to end the war.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the Afghan Taliban rulers refused to hand over al-Qaeda leaders responsible for 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Washington Post report Friday said the U.S. would withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan “in exchange for concessions from the Taliban, including a cease-fire and a renunciation of al-Qaeda, as part of an initial deal to end the nearly 18-year-old war.”
The U.S. has spent billions of dollars on the Afghan conflict and nearly two decades into the conflict, Americans see it as a costly and unpopular intervention. While, the U.S. has destroyed al-Qaeda that once had a refuge in the landlocked country. Afghans have lost tens of thousand of lives and Pakistanis have also suffered from the blowback of the conflict on their Western border.
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