Foreign troops 'to withdraw from Afghanistan' under draft deal

Foreign troops will withdraw from Afghanistan within 18 months, Taliban officials said on Saturday, after US negotiators agreed on a draft peace pact setting out plans to potentially end the United States’ longest war, Reuters reported.

Details of the draft, which stipulates a withdrawal within 18 months of the agreement being signed in return for Taliban guarantees not to shelter foreign extremists, were passed on to Reuters by a Taliban sources at the end of six days of talks with US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar, the news agency said.

While no joint statement was issued to confirm the draft agreement, Khalilzad tweeted later that the talks had made “significant progress” and would resume shortly, adding that he planned to travel to Afghanistan to meet government officials.

“Meetings here (in Qatar) were more productive than they have been in the past. We have made significant progress on vital issues,” he wrote, noting the need for further work.

“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed and everything must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire,” he wrote in the tweets.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later tweeted he had heard "encouraging news" from Khalilzad. 

"The US is serious about pursuing peace, preventing Afghanistan from continuing to be a space for international terrorism & bringing forces home," he added.

"Working with the Afghan gov’t & all interested parties, the US seeks to strengthen Afghan sovereignty, independence & prosperity."

Trump has been eager to end America's longest war, which was launched shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Trump has already said he will pull half of the 14,000 US troops from Afghanistan.

Dispute on Kabul's role

However, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that while there was "progress" at the meetings, reports of an agreement on a ceasefire and talks with Kabul "are not true."

"Since issues are of critical nature and need comprehensive discussions, therefore it was decided that talks about unresolved matters will resume in similar future meetings," he said in a statement.

But a senior Taliban commander sounded optimistic after the talks with the Afghan-born Khalilzad, who played key diplomatic roles in former president George W. Bush's administration.

"The US has accepted many of our demands and both sides are very much agreed on major points, but some points are still under discussion," the Taliban commander told AFP on condition of anonymity by phone from Pakistan.

"We are moving forward and a lot of progress has been made so far.

"Efforts are underway to find some middle ground to solve the remaining disputed issues. The Afghan government is one of them," he added.

Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani also hailed the dialogue, tweeting: "This progress marks a significant step in the history of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan."

The Taliban in the past have refused to deal with the internationally recognised government of President Ashraf Ghani.

Abdullah Abdullah, the de facto prime minister of Afghanistan, recently voiced frustration that the Taliban was excluding the Kabul government, warning that a peace process "cannot take place by proxy.”

The length and apparent breadth of the Taliban talks are unprecedented, signalling that both the United States and the Taliban see a path forward.

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