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US to Vacate 5 Bases in Afghanistan if Deal With Taliban Signed

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - The United States has reached a draft framework agreement
   with the Taliban that will require American troops to vacate five
   military bases in Afghanistan within 135 days of the signing of the
   document.
   U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad made the comment Monday while
   speaking to the largest private Afghan television channel TOLOnews. He
   said that 5,000 troops will withdraw from the bases. Currently, 14,000
   U.S. troops are deployed to Afghanistan and there are seven known
   U.S.-run bases in the country.

   The disclosure came hours after Khalilzad shared with Afghan President
   Ashraf Ghani "key details" of the deal but did not hand him a copy of
   the document that could bring an end to America's longest military
   intervention abroad.

   "He [Khalilzad] talked about the details of framework of that agreement
   that is going to be signed anytime in the near future'¦ So, we went
   through all those details and the president had a look at the details,"
   presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters in Kabul.

   He refused to go into specifics of the agreement, saying the Afghan
   government will study the details to formulate its observations and
   share them with Khalilzad's team.

   "So, it will take a couple of days probably that we will get back to
   them and we will give them our observation," Sediqqi said.
   The spokesman insisted the U.S.-led peace effort would eventually lead
   to cessations of Taliban hostilities and direct peace talks between the
   Afghan government and the insurgent group.

   There was no immediate reaction from the Taliban to Sediqqi's
   assertions. The insurgents have persistently refused to engage in any
   talks with the Ghani government, dismissing it as an illegitimate
   entity and an American puppet.

   Khalilzad announced Sunday via Twitter he had concluded the ninth round
   of peace talks in Qatar with the Taliban and was leaving for Kabul to
   brief Afghan leaders on his discussions with the insurgents.

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