Taliban: US Agreed to Major Drawdown in Next Two Months

Elaborating on the growing talk of a peace deal in Afghanistan, the Taliban says that they have received commitments for a major US drawdown from the country in the next couple of months. They said this would be half of the 14,000 US troops currently in Afghanistan.

Despite that, Taliban delegation head Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai says that there is no fixed timeline yet in place for a full US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Other officials at the recent talks in Moscow, including former President Hamid Karzai, say the progress is “very satisfactory.”

That’s less true for the current government’s leadership, which has been condemning the talks for not including President Ghani. Ghani has said he will reject any deal that does not directly present him as the final decision-maker.

If the Taliban have any complaints, however, it is President Trump’s talk during the State of the Union address of leaving behind forces for “counter-terrorism” operations. The Taliban has said that’s not part of the deal, and that they want all foreign troops out of Afghanistan.