All US troops in Afghanistan should be "home by Christmas", President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, just hours after his national security adviser said Washington would reduce its forces in Afghanistan to 2,500 by early next year.
Trump took to social media Wednesday evening to announce that despite recent news, the American people should expect a December 25 return of the "small remaining number" of USA troops deployed to Afghanistan. Trump tweeted late Wednesday.
The spokespersons for both U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan, and the Defense Department referred all queries on Trump's tweet to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Modi "reiterated India's commitment towards sustainable peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and welcomed efforts towards a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan", an Indian foreign ministry statement said. They're acting as policemen.
Multiple U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive troop details, said they know of no plan for either new deadline.
(3) After the announcement of guarantees for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and timeline in the presence of global witnesses, and guarantees and the announcement in the presence of worldwide witnesses that Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies, the Taliban will start intra-Afghan negotiations with Afghan sides on March 10, 2020. "Conditions on the ground - not arbitrary timetables - will guide our strategy from now on".
"Whether the U.S. stays there or not, this deadly war will continue for years, therefore the peace negotiators should take advantage of the opportunity and agree on a political settlement", said Tariq Farhadi, former adviser to the president.
Abdullah is here to exchange views on the negotiations between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban at Doha, Qatar, and bilateral relations."Arrived in New Delhi, India, to begin my official visit".
America's exit from Afghanistan after 19 years was laid out in an agreement Washington reached with the Taliban in February. However, that agreement said US troops would be out of Afghanistan in 18 months, provided the Taliban honoured a commitment to fight terrorist groups, with most attention seemingly focused on the Islamic State group's affiliate in the country.
The statement also said that the Taliban is committed to the contents of the agreement and hopes for good and positive relations with all countries, including the United States, in the future.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation in Afghanistan, met NSA Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Wednesday and discussed the peace process in the war-torn country.
Still, both sides have stayed at the negotiating table even as Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad last week returned to the region.
If followed through on, Trump's statement would seem to render irrelevant the conditions for total US withdrawal set out in the bilateral peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban and signed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in February.
While the talks have been taking place in Qatar's capital Doha, many Afghan soldiers and Taliban fighters have been killed in clashes.
