Taliban and Afghan forces have agreed to a weeklong reduction in violence from midnight on February 22, according to Javed Faisal, Afghanistan's National Security Council spokesman.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said a deal between the United States and the Taliban on a weeklong reduction of violence in Afghanistan "looks very promising," but warned it was not without risk.
The United States and the Taliban have reached a deal on a weeklong reduction of violence that could lead to U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official has said.
NATO's training and support mission in Afghanistan and the challenge posed by Russia’s missile systems are expected to top the agenda of the second day of a summit of the alliance’s defense ministers.
Leaders in Afghanistan say the United States has made “notable progress” in ongoing peace talks with representatives of the Taliban that are taking pace in the Gulf state of Qatar.
The Taliban rejected charges by the United States that the insurgent group lacks “will or capacity or both” to take steps needed to advance turbulent negotiations between the two foes aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has demanded "demonstrable evidence" from the Taliban that it will lower the violence level in Afghanistan before signing a deal that would lead to peace talks and a withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.
Factions within the Afghan government and Washington differ over whether they are willing to accept a reduction in violence or expect a complete cease-fire in the wake of an agreement between the United States and the Taliban.
A widely anticipated agreement between Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban movement and the United States is expected to include safeguards to ensure that it leads to ending over four decades of war in the country.
A spokesman for the Taliban has told a Pakistani newspaper that the militant group is hoping to reach a deal with U.S negotiators by the end of January.
A representative of the Taliban says a second day of meetings between the group and a U.S. negotiating team led by Zalmay Khalilzad has been held in Qatar.
The Afghan Taliban has shown "willingness" to reduce violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan's foreign minister has said, calling it a “step toward” a peace deal between the militant group and the United States.
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