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US Defense Secretary: Afghanistan Peace Process 'Behind Schedule'

Carla Babb

   U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the peace process in Afghanistan
   is not going as quickly as expected, with the Taliban failing to reduce
   violence in the war-torn country.

   "It's behind schedule," Esper said at a Brookings Institute event on
   Monday. "We continue to talk to both sides about what they need to do
   to fully implement the agreement."

   Officials had cautiously hoped a peace deal signed in February by the
   United States and the Taliban would lead to intra-Afghan negotiations
   that could serve as a new foundation of peace for a country plagued by
   more than 18 consecutive years of war.

   Those intra-Aghan peace efforts stalled, however, as President Ashraf
   Ghani and the country's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, have
   continued their political battle for power.

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