US-Taliban to sign agreement on Feb 29 after a week of reduced violence

The United States and the Taliban have been engaged in talks to facilitate a political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan and reduce US presence in the region

After months of deliberations and botched-up dialogue, the United States (US) government and the Taliban have reached a deal to reduce violence across Afghanistan which will be signed on February 29, AFP has reported. "Upon successful implementation of this understanding, signing of the US-Taliban agreement is expected to move forward," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement released after his Saudi Arabia visit.

The United States and the Taliban have been engaged in talks to facilitate a political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan and reduce the US presence in the region. 

Afghan, international and Taliban forces will observe the reduced violence period beginning midnight (1930 GMT) on February 21, an Afghan official and Taliban leaders said earlier. "Following lengthy negotiations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States of America, both parties agreed to sign the finalised accord in the presence of international observers," a Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Following the official signing, the Secretary of State said that an intra-Afghan dialogue will begin to finalise the intricacies of the deal. The dialogue is likely to be held in Doha, Qatar. They will "build on this fundamental step to deliver a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and the future political road map for Afghanistan," he said. 

The US top diplomat said that challenges remain, but that progress made so far "provides hope and represents a real opportunity. The US calls on all Afghans to seize this moment".

Donald Trump while giving the State of the union address.

In an opinion piece published in the New York Times, the Taliban’s deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani had said: “The withdrawal of foreign forces has been our first and foremost demand. That we today stand at the threshold of a peace agreement with the United States is no small milestone.” 

“Even when President (Donald) Trump called off the talks, we kept the door to peace open because we Afghans suffer the most from the continuation of the war. No peace agreement, following on the heels of such intensive talks, comes without mutual compromises,” Haqqani added. 

The US, however, is yet to comment on the decision to pull soldiers out of the hilly nation. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday welcomed a historic US-Taliban agreement, saying it had opened a possible route to sustainable peace in Afghanistan. The deal would mark a major turning point in the conflict, setting the conditions for a deal that could ultimately pull US troops out after more than 18 years. "I welcome today's announcement that an understanding has been reached on a significant reduction in violence across Afghanistan," Stoltenberg said in a statement. "This is a critical test of the Taliban's willingness and ability to reduce violence, and contribute to peace in good faith.

Why is US-Afghan deal important?

The deal is a result of three years of hard negotiations between the two sides over the civil-war torn country where the Taliban portrayed to have an upper hand. Led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US, instead of pushing Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government jumped into the fray as its policy switched under the Trump presidency. Reports suggest that Pakistan also played a pivotal role in bringing the Taliban to the table amid "growing Indian presence in Afghanistan". Welcoming the development, Pakistan said that it hopes that all parties would now seize this historic opportunity to bring a comprehensive and inclusive political settlement for durable peace and stability in the war-torn Afghanistan and the region.

With Donald Trump heading into the election for a second term at White House, fulfilling his promise of reducing engagement with Afghanistan will hold with his electorate.

What happens after the deal is signed?

Once the deal is signed, both the US and the Taliban will have to fulfil certain commitments to reduce the prolonged violence in the country. While the US will have to withdraw a large part of troops from Afghanistan, it will also release Taliban prisoners. The US, on the other hand, demands that the Taliban shift from violence and engage with the political forces in the country to negotiate a power-sharing agreement and break ties with terror group Al Qaida. 

The country is already in rough waters over the political discourse as the recently held presidential elections, in which Ashraf Ghani won, were marred by disputes over vote count and rejected by the Opposition.