US begins first phase of Afghan troop withdrawal amid impasse
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The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the US military said yesterday, an initial step in its peace deal with the Taliban while also praising Afghan President Ashraf Ghani鈥檚 promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners, which he has delayed for more than a week.
The US-Taliban deal signed February 29 was touted as Washington鈥檚 best chance to end 18 years of war in Afghanistan. The next crucial step was supposed to be intra-Afghan talks in which all factions, including the Taliban, would negotiate a road map for their country鈥檚 future.
However, Ghani and his main political rival Abdullah Abdullah were each sworn in as president in separate ceremonies on Monday. Abdallah and the elections-complaints commission claim last year鈥檚 vote was fraudulent. The dueling inaugurations have thrown plans for talks with the Taliban into chaos, although Ghani said yesterday he will begin to assemble a negotiating team.
The Afghan government鈥檚 disarray is indicative of the uphill task facing Washington鈥檚 peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, as he tries to convince Afghanistan鈥檚 bickering leadership to come together.
鈥淚 hope the two leaders can come to an agreement on an inclusive and broadly accepted government,鈥 Khalilzad said. 鈥淲e will continue to assist.鈥
US military spokesman Sonny Leggett said the military had begun its 鈥渃onditions-based reduction of forces to 8,600 over 135 days.鈥
Currently, the US has 13,000 soldiers in Afghanistan 鈥 8,000 of whom are involved in training and advising Afghanistan鈥檚 National Security Forces, while 5,000 are involved in anti-terror operations and militarily supporting the Afghan army upon request.
Taliban officials said on Monday that a flurry of biometric identifications were being conducted on Taliban prisoners, hinting at a mass release, according to prisoners currently in lockup.
The Taliban officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren鈥檛 authorized to talk to the media.
Sohail Shaheen, the Taliban鈥檚 spokesman in Doha where the insurgent group maintains an office, tweeted yesterday the names of the 5,000 prisoners are with an 鈥淎merican delegation and the list cannot be manipulated,鈥 without elaborating.
The US said its partial troop withdrawal over an 18-month period provided for in the deal will be linked to the Taliban keeping its promise to help fight terror in Afghanistan, not to the success of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Over the weekend, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said the insurgent group was committed to its agreement with the US and called on Washington to do its part.
The US in reaching its deal with the Taliban said it expected the Taliban, which has been battling Afghanistan鈥檚 IS affiliate, to further aid in the effort to defeat IS.
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