Liked on YouTube: Official: US, Taliban reach truce agreement

Official: US, Taliban reach truce agreement

(14 Feb 2020) A senior US official said on Friday that the United States and the Taliban have reached a truce agreement that will take effect "very soon" and could lead to withdrawals of American troops from Afghanistan. The official said the agreement for a seven-day "reduction in violence", which is to be followed by the start of all-Afghan peace talks within 10 days, is “very specific” and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend. The official, who was not authorised to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban had committed to a halt in roadside and suicide bombings as well as rocket attacks. The official said the US would monitor the truce and determine if there were any violations. Should the Taliban comply, the "reduction in violence" agreement would be followed by the signing of an agreement that would initiate peace negotiations that include all Afghan sides. A Taliban official familiar with the deal said the second agreement would be signed on 29 February and that the inter-Afghan dialogue would begin on 10 March. The officials said Germany and Norway have offered to host the talks but there has been no decision on the venue. That Taliban official added that the withdrawal of foreign troops would start gradually and would be phased over 18 months. President Donald Trump previously called off the peace talks because of an attack that killed two Americans. US officials have not publicly spelled out their timetable for an initial drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan, but the expectation is that a reduction from the current total of about 12,000 to approximately 8,600 will begin after the signing of a US-Taliban deal. That initial reduction is likely to stretch out over a period of weeks or months. The new developments came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper met Friday in Munich with Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani. They spoke on the sidelines of an international security forum in Munich. Find out more about AP Archive: https://ift.tt/1CUvJt1 Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://ift.tt/2mlr9BZ Google+: https://plus.google.com/b/102011028589719587178/+APArchive​ Tumblr: https://aparchives.tumblr.com/​​ Instagram: https://ift.tt/2G5Qog8 You can license this story through AP Archive: https://ift.tt/2V1GQOx
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