Important progress in Afghan government-Taliban talks, preliminary agreement announced

Representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban say they have agreed to a preliminary agreement regarding peace talks.

This is the first written agreement between the parties in the 19-year war, which has been welcomed by the United Nations and the United States.

According to foreign news agency Reuters, the agreement paves the way for further talks and is being hailed as an important development as it will allow negotiators to move forward on more concrete issues, including a ceasefire.

Nader Naderi, a member of the Afghan government’s negotiating team, told Reuters that “the procedure for the negotiations, including the preamble, has been finalized and now the negotiations will begin with the agenda.”

A Taliban spokesperson also confirmed the preliminary agreement on Twitter.

This preliminary agreement came after several months of negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which was also supported by the United States. Attacks are being made.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for the Afghan Reconciliation Process, said in a tweet that the parties have agreed to a three-page agreement, which includes a political roadmap and procedures and rules for negotiating a comprehensive ceasefire. are

The Taliban had refused to agree on a ceasefire despite the demands of Western countries and international organizations in the early stages of the talks and said that it would only happen when the process of moving forward with the talks was agreed upon.

“The agreement shows that the negotiating parties can agree on difficult issues,” Khalilzad said.

It should be noted that according to the agreement between the United States and the Taliban in February, foreign forces must leave Afghanistan by May 2021, while in return, the Taliban has guaranteed no attacks.

US President Donald Trump appears to be in a rush to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan despite criticism and has said he wants to see all US troops back in the country by Christmas, ending America’s longest war.

After that, the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of another 2,000 troops from Afghanistan by January, but 2,500 personnel will remain stationed there even after that.

Two days ago, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned NATO against premature withdrawal of troops.

Deborah Lyons, the UN envoy to Afghanistan, welcomed the “positive development” on Twitter, saying it should be a milestone for the peace that all Afghans want.