The US has achieved a seven-day drop in Afghanistan violence that it hopes would allow it to negotiate a deal with the Taliban, officials said Thursday. The decision came a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced “notable improvement” with the Islamist insurgents in talks.
Esper didn’t say when the partial ceasefire would start, but a Taliban official told AFP on Wednesday that the group would launch a “reduction of aggression” on Friday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, talking to reporters on board a plane at the Munich Security Conference where he is set to meet with Ghani, said that the talks “have made real progress in the past few days.”
Washington and the rebels engage in gruelling negotiations. It lasted for over a year, seeking to end what has become America’s longest war. The New York Times has confirmed that President Donald Trump had conditionally accepted an agreement. This is with the Taliban to allow him to begin withdrawing US forces, citing Afghan and US officials.
So, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper talks about NATO conference in Brussels. Thus, the two sides “negotiated an agreement to reduce violence by seven days,” he said. Trump is unsure whether he thinks about the plan restricting hostilities pause or something broader.
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