Afghanistan's Taliban, US sign agreement aimed at ending war Saturday Feb 29,2020

 

The pact is between the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban” and the US. 

The four-page pact was signed between Zalmay Khalilzad, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, political head of the Taliban.

Separately, a three-page joint declaration between the Afghan government (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan) and the US was issued in Kabul.

US officials and Taliban representatives have signed an agreement after months of negotiations in Qatar's capital that is aimed at ending the United States's longest war, fought in Afghanistan since 2001. 

Saturday Feb 29,2020's agreement, signed in Qatar's capital, Doha, in the presence of leaders from Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, India, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, will pave the way for the US to gradually withdraw its troops.

The two sides have long wrangled over the US demand for a ceasefire before the signing of the agreement, which has four points:

1. a timeline of 14 months for the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Afghanistan
2.  a Taliban guarantee that Afghan soil will not be used as a launchpad that would threaten the security of the US
3.  the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations by March 10; and
4.  a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire 

Minutes before the agreement was signed, a joint statement released by the US and the Afghan government said the US and NATO troops would withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months.
About 14,000 US troops and approximately 17,000 troops from 39 NATO allies and partner countries are stationed in Afghanistan in a non-combatant role.

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, right, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, speak during a joint news conference in presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday Feb 29,2020

 

"The United States will reduce the number of US military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement other commitments in the US-Taliban agreement within 135 days of the announcement of this joint declaration and the US-Taliban agreement," the joint statement said.

It added that the Afghan government will engage with the United Nations Security Council "to remove Taliban members from sanctions list by May 29"