Arafat Hasan of DOT
A spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani has attested that the withdrawal of half of the 14,000 US troops serving in Afghanistan will have ‘little impact’ on the fighting capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces. Haroon Chakansuri responded Friday to reports the Pentagon is developing plans to withdraw 7,000 American soldiers by the summer. He said Afghanistan’s military has been in charge of the country’s security since 2014 when more than 100,000 NATO troops withdrew. Since then, US forces have provided training and advice, assisting in military operations only when requested by Afghan troops.
However, several reports claim that the Taliban are stronger today than they have been since their ouster in 2001. They control or hold sway over nearly half the country, carrying out near daily attacks that mostly target Afghan security forces.
President Donald Trump had decided to pull a significant number of troops from Afghanistan, a US official told AFP on Thursday, with some reports suggesting as many as 50 percent could leave the war-torn country.
The surprise move stunned and dismayed foreign diplomats and officials in Kabul who are involved in an intensifying push to end the 17-year conflict.
“If you’re the Taliban, Christmas has come early,” a senior foreign official in the Afghan capital told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
“Would you be thinking of a cease-fire if your main opponent has just withdrawn half their troops?“
It is not clear if US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad or the Afghan government had been aware of Trump’s plans. The decision apparently came after Khalilzad met with the Taliban in Abu Dhabi this week, part of a flurry of diplomatic efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.
They are believed to have discussed issues including the group’s longstanding demand for a pullout of foreign troops and a cease-fire.
-Source: Arab News