The United States resumed talks with Taliban in Qatar on Saturday, December 7, an American source said, three months after President Donald Trump halted diplomatic efforts to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan .
"The United States joined the talks today in Doha, focusing on reducing violence to lead to inter-Afghan negotiations and a ceasefire," said the source.
Broken links in September
On September 7, Donald Trump broke the direct and unprecedented talks over a year ago by Taliban envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who appeared to be on the verge of reaching an agreement. He also canceled an invitation secretly made to Taliban leaders to meet him, citing the death of an American soldier in yet another insurgent attack in Kabul.
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After assuring that the talks were "dead and buried", he seemed to soften his position by leaving the door open for dialogue if the Taliban ended their attacks.
A "reduction of violence"
On November 28, in Afghanistan to support his troops on Thanksgiving Day, he finally announced the resumption of negotiations. The draft agreement, which was sealed in early September, foresaw a gradual withdrawal of the 13,000 to 14,000 American soldiers, the main Taliban claim.
In exchange, they had to make a commitment never to let "terrorists" act from Afghanistan, and to start an unprecedented dialogue with the Kabul government. On the other hand, only a "reduction of violence" was planned.
With AFP