Taliban demands remain straightforward and the same
The main goal of the Taliban remains the removal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan. Any deal will be conditioned on the US withdrawing all its troops from the country. There have been some reports that the US wants to keep some residual troops in Afghanistan under the deal. However, Haggani rejected the notion that there would be any peace deal with some US troops remaining in the country.
The withdrawal of all remaining foreign troops is a red line for the Taliban. Any reluctance on the part of the US to sign a deal raises questions about whether the US is ready to commit to withdrawing all its troops from Afghanistan. It is not clear what practical value there would be in leaving a small contingent of US soldiers in the country.
Trump planned troop cuts with or without a deal
US President Trump had already planned cuts to troop numbers before this years election in the fall and this is expected to happen whether there is a deal or not. If there is a deal no doubt all remaining troops will be withdrawn. However, it is never completely clear what Trump will ultimately do in spite of his rhetoric about the US being involved in useless wars abroad.
Mullah Baradar another key negotiator
In January last year, the Taliban appointed Mullah Abdul Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban in 1993 as chief negotiator in the peace talks with the US in Qatar. Baradar was the first senior Taliban leader who saw the futility and waste of the Afghan civil war and held secret peace talks in 2009 with the government of Hamid Karzai and indirectly with the US and NATO forces as well.
For his efforts Baradar was arrested in Pakistan as his actions were not in accord with Pakistani policy. He was released only after 8 years and pressure from the US. Now in an article in the New York Times Baradar states his position,.
Baradar noted that when the Taliban started negotiations with the US back in 2018 they had little confidence that the talks would yield any results. The group did not trust the US after 18 years of war and several previous attempts at negotiations had failed. Baradar notes that the Taliban kept negotiating even as the US kept attacking them. This showed their commitment to ending hostilities and bringing peace to Afghanistan he claimed. Baradar has agreed with the US demand that the Taliban will be committed to not allowing terrorist groups to remain in Afghanistan and use it as a base as well as ridding Afghanistan of the remnants of ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Week of violence reduction begins at midnight Feb. 21
Officials confirm that a 7-day reduction in violence among the Taliban, the US and Afghan security forces will begin at midnight on Friday. The agreement was reached during talks between US and Taliban representatives. If maintained this could help negotiators reach a more extensive agreement that could see US and other foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan and negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government officials although not as official representatives. The Taliban will not directly negotiate with the Afghan government as they consider it a puppet of the US.
