The US President Donald Trump said the United States will begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan immediately.
“Today. It will begin immediately”, – Trump told the reporters, answering the question when the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will begin as part of an agreement with the Taliban.
Taliban Peace Agreement
The US and the Taliban have signed a peace agreement earlier. The document provides for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the beginning of inter-Afghan dialogue.
The agreement was signed by the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and the head of the delegation at the talks, Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban political leader Mullah Abdul Gani Baradar. The ceremony in Qatar was attended by representatives of more than 30 countries.
The document assumes that Washington will reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan from 12 to 8.6 thousand people in 135 days. After that, if the Taliban refrain from violence, the US will continue to withdraw its forces and NATO forces from the country within 14 months. In return, the Taliban should abandon the use of Afghan territory to attack the United States and other states.
In addition, the parties agreed on a “permanent and comprehensive truce”. Direct negotiations between the Taliban and the Government of Afghanistan will be conducted as part of the inter-Afghan dialogue. In addition, the Taliban will work with the UN Security Council to remove its members from the sanctions list. This will be done, supposedly, by the end of May.