US, Taliban to discuss violence reduction date today

KABUL today (Wednesday), a credible source said.

This comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported “notable progress” in peace talks during telephonic contacts with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday night

A credible source, who wished to go unnamed, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the US and Taliban representatives would discuss a date for announcing reduction in violence during today’s talks.

The source said a huge progress had been achieved in talks between the two sides over the last few days and today’s meeting would discuss a date from to mark the start of reduction in violence.

The first phase would include 10 days of reduction in violence and then agreement would be signed between the Taliban and the US if the rebels remained committed to their reduction in violence during this period, the source said.

After the agreement, intra-Afghan talks would begin and exchange and release of prisoners would be the first issue to be discussed, he said, adding the prisoners issue would be discussed in presence of Taliban, Afghan government and ICRC representatives.

The US and Taliban would discuss only reduction in violence and withdrawal of US forces while the rest of other issues depend on the Afghan government, the source said.

“The agreement would most probably be signed in Qatar and the Taliban want Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sign the deal from the American side, but no decision has been made in this regard so far.”

The source said after the agreement between the US and Taliban, another agreement would be also signed between the US and the Afghan government. However, the source did not provide details on the regard.

mds/ma