Afghanistan: US, Taliban sign historic peace deal

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban leader after 18 years of war. KARIM JAAFAR / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Taliban political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar signed a historic peace agreement this Saturday, February 29, in Doha, Qatar. The United States has announced the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban honor their commitments.

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The American delegation was led by the head of diplomacy Mike Pompeo and the American negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad. The Taliban delegation was led by their political leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The United States and its allies will withdraw all of their troops from Afghanistan within 14 months if the Taliban honor their commitments under the agreement signed in Doha this Saturday, according to a joint statement by the United States government and the Taliban.

After an initial reduction that would see the number of soldiers drop to 8,600 within 135 days of the signing of the agreement, the United States and its allies " will complete the withdrawal of the remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months, " said the statement. The protagonists will also exchange thousands of prisoners.

The Taliban will have to commit to ensuring that the country does not become a haven for terrorist groups. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the Taliban to " keep the promise of a break with al-Qaeda ." The Taliban also pledged to open peace talks with the Kabul government. They will start on March 10.

An admission of failure for Washington?

The agreement described as historic is far from the commitments made by former President Bush twenty years ago, recalls our special envoy to Doha, Sylvain Lepetit . In 2001, George W. Bush had engaged the United States in a war that had to be lightning to overthrow the Taliban and install democracy.

The longest military intervention in American history ended in a humanitarian fiasco, 18 years later. The United States has spent more than $ 1 trillion on this conflict, which has killed 2,400 American soldiers and left more than 100,000 people dead and injured on the Afghan side.

This agreement puts the Taliban face to face with an Afghan government which they have always considered a puppet and which has been kept out of the negotiations. It is now up to the Afghans, alone, to find a political solution to a war that has been going on for over 40 years. But the United States has still announced that it " will not hesitate to cancel the agreement " if the Taliban violate it.

Also read: " The Taliban have a great capacity to make their fighters obey "

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