The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, says the United States and the Taliban are “at the threshold of an agreement” that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honorable and sustainable peace.
Mr. Khalilzad said in a tweet that he concluded this round of talks with the Taliban in Doha and that he would travel to Kabul for consultations.
His remarks come as Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in an interview with TOLOnews on Saturday evening said he will meet Mr. Khalilzad in Kabul on Sunday and that the US envoy will brief the Afghan leaders on recent developments in the ninth round of negotiations in Doha.
A Taliban spokesman in Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, in a tweet said that this round of talks ended late night with “success” and it is agreed the technical teams will hold a meeting Sunday afternoon.
This comes days after US President Donald Trump said he will reduce the number of US troops from 14,000 to 8,600 in Afghanistan.
The US-Taliban talks are mainly focused on four topics: international forces withdrawal from Afghanistan, counterterrorism assurances, a ceasefire, and intra-Afghan negotiations.
Washington now wants to end its military involvement — the longest in its history — and has been talking to the Taliban since at least 2018.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo previously said he hoped a deal would be finalized before September 1 ahead of Afghan polls due later this month, and next year’s US presidential vote.
The Taliban’s spokesman in Doha Suhail Shaheen said Saturday that a deal “is near to finalized” but did not specify what obstacles remain to its conclusion.
The agreement will center on the US withdrawing troops in exchange for a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used as a jihadist safe haven.
Negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government, and an eventual ceasefire, will also be key pillars of any deal.
Such a deal would help foster “a unified, sovereign Afghanistan that does not threaten the United States, its allies, or any other country,” Khalilzad added in his Sunday tweet.
The apparent final phase of talks follows an excruciating few months for Afghans.
The war-torn nation’s people have watched on largely voiceless as US negotiators cut a deal with the Taliban while largely sidelining the government of President Ashraf Ghani.
This ninth round of talks has also progressed to a backdrop of persistent violence with the Taliban staging a brazen attack on the northern city of Kunduz on Saturday.
Afghan security forces say they have “repelled” the coordinated assault.
