The Trump administration and the Taliban have announced they will sign a peace deal next Friday after a week with a “significant” reduction in violence.
“A Significant Reduction in Violence”
The new peace deal will be signed on February 29th, after a reduction in violence came into effect from both sides on midnight Saturday morning Afghanistan time. This, crucially, is not a cease fire, as the US will still conduct anti-terrorist operations against Al-Qaeda and other groups in Afghanistan. The “violence reduction” is a condition of the deal going into effect.
After decades of conflict, we have come to an understanding with the Taliban on a significant reduction in violence across #Afghanistan. This is an important step on a long road to peace, and I call on all Afghans to seize this opportunity.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) February 21, 2020
In a statement published in the New York Times, the deputy leader of the Taliban, Sirajuddin Haqqani, said the group was willing to move forward and compromise on a number of key issues, such as women’s rights.
“I am confident that, liberated from foreign domination and interference, we together will find a way to build an Islamic system in which all Afghans have equal rights, where the rights of women that are granted by Islam – from the right to education to the right to work – are protected, and where merit is the basis for equal opportunity,” Haqqani wrote.
Peace is Finally Here!
There will not be a complete pull out of US forces from the region, however.
“The number of troops that we will have will always be the appropriate level that we need to provide security there,” said Jonathan Hoffman, a spokesman for the Pentagon. “We’re going to focus on the counterterrorism mission, and we’re going to focus on the reason we got into Afghanistan in the first place, and that is to prevent terrorist operations or individuals from using Afghanistan as a base from which to operate against the homeland.’
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President Trump is doing what he promised the American people! After almost two decades of war in Afghanistan with the Taliban, it looks like it is finally coming to an end with this new peace deal. While we will have to maintain some troops in the region, we will have one less enemy to fight than we did before. This is a win, and we need to celebrate it!