US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has landed in Doha, Qatar, to attend the signing of an agreement between the United States and the Afghan Taliban movement.

- We are on the verge of a huge, enormous political opportunity, says Pompeo.

The ceremony was preceded by a kind of week-long trial period, in which the parties agreed to stepped down violence. After this has proven to lead to sharply reduced fighting, the next step is now to be taken according to plan.

Under the agreement, all US and NATO soldiers must leave Afghanistan within 14 months

"The coalition will complete the withdrawal of its remaining forces from Afghanistan within 14 months of this joint declaration of intent and the US-Taliban agreement, provided the Taliban fulfills its commitments," the United States and Afghan governments write in a joint statement.

"Much speculation"

However, the agreement will not mean immediate peace in the war-torn country.

The politically weak Afghan government has not been directly involved in the negotiations, but the US-Taliban agreement contains a roadmap for future negotiations between President Ashraf Ghani's administration and the fundamentalist movement.

- This is just a precursor to getting started with that process. It is not a reason for the government or its allies to celebrate, says Andrew Watkins, an analyst at the think tank International Crisis Group.

He points out that details of the agreement are known.

- There has been so much speculation about the content of the agreement. We know the big features, but it is not even certain that the full terms and conditions will be made public, says Andrew Watkins, an analyst at the think tank International Crisis Group.

No sanctuary

The Taliban are expected to promise that foreign terrorists will not be allowed to use Afghanistan as a sanctuary.

The al-Qaeda jihadi movement that was behind the attacks on the twin towers in New York on September 11, 2001 had its base in Afghanistan. Something that was a major contributing cause of the US invasion of the country later that year.

Before the ceremony in Doha, the movement gave strict instructions that no acts of violence should interfere with the occasion.

- All Taliban warriors have been ordered not to carry out any types of attacks today. This is a happy day for the nation, says spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.

The United States has announced that within a few months of signing, the country will begin to wind down its military presence by stepping down from today's 12,000 to 13,000 to 8,600 soldiers.