Gen Austin Miller and US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad had a meeting with the Taliban, and came out with an agreement. US airstrikes will halt, as will Taliban offensives in the Helmand Province.
That solves multiple problems in Afghanistan. The US airstrikes were plainly violating the Doha Agreement, and the Taliban was warning of retaliation over that. The Helmand offensive was also threatening the intra-Afghan peace talks.
This is likely to calm both situations, though since the Taliban offensive had already effectively failed, they aren’t giving up much. The US was obliged to stop the airstrikes, at the same time, which were a flagrant violation of an existing deal.
This brings both sides back to their senses, and hopefully back to the peace process. The US is in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan, and the Taliban is meant to sort out a power-sharing deal with the Afghan government. Both of those aims should benefit, if their deal holds.
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