PESHAWAR, KABUL: Taliban officials said that US negotiators on Saturday agreed to draft a peace pact centred on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghan soil - a key Taliban demand- but denied that any timeline had been set after Reuters reported the withdrawal would take place within 18 months.
In a tweet on Saturday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said “The talk of 18 months never popped up.”
The US peace envoy at the helm of talks with the Taliban to end the Afghan war has said that progress has been made during six days of talks in Qatar.
In a series of tweets following his most recent round of talks with the Taliban, Afghan born diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad said that no deal had been reached with the Taliban but the meetings were “more productive than they have been in the past.”
He expressed confidence and stated talks would resume shortly, adding that a number of issues still had to be worked out.
“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and “everything” must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
A Taliban statement later on Saturday stated that there had been progress on foreign troop withdrawal but said more consultations and negotiations were required.
“The policy of the Islamic Emirate during talks was very clear — until the issue of withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan is agreed upon, progress in other issues is impossible,” said the Taliban Spokesman.
It is believed the next round of meetings will take place during the first week of February led by the new head of the Taliban political office Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former military commander who was released from prison in Pakistan last year.
After concluding talks in Qatar, Khalilzad flew to Kabul to meet with President Ashraf Ghani and bring his government up to speed on negotiations.
The Afghan Taliban has so far refused to meet with representatives of the Afghan government.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Saturday that Washington was keen to pull troops out of the country, but did not give a timetable for the potential withdrawal.
“The US is serious about pursuing peace, preventing #Afghanistan from continuing to be a space for international terrorism & bringing forces home,” Pompeo tweeted.
Referring to the secretary of state’s comments and details of the Doha talks which are yet to be made public, political analyst Waheed Mozdah said, “It was agreed that the foreign troops will have to leave but Mr. Khalilzad spoke cautiously in order to not cause alarm that the Americans are leaving.”
News of talks-related progress comes in the backdrop of near-daily and deadly attacks by the Taliban against the Western-backed Afghan government and its armed forces.
Ordinary Afghans fear a repeat of the Soviet Union pullout of the 80’s which was followed by a brutal civil war. Some said Afghanistan needed guarantees that the country would not become a regional battleground after the U.S exit.
According to one university student in Kabul, “We expect the Americans to leave a framework where neighbouring countries do not fill in the vacuum for their own interest.”
“It will be a big betrayal if the U.S. leaves without equipping our army and air force.”
