Zalmay Khalilzad meets Taliban reps in Pakistan as talks resume quietly

• US and Afghan Taliban have initiated dialogue to restore peace process after negotiations failed in September.
• Washington demands ceasefire in Afghanistan and inclusion of the Kabul government in the peace process.
• Initially, US will pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan if talks succeed.

(Karachi) In a fresh initiative to restore peace talks and end war in Afghanistan, Special US envoy for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad reportedly held meeting with Taliban representatives in Pakistan a few days ago. The meeting could prove crucial in making a breakthrough in the reconciliation process.

The US and Afghan Taliban have started debating on the procedure to restore peace process after negotiations failed in September.

Last month, Khalilzad also met with top US diplomat in New York to strike a deal and initiate the peace talks.  As part of the pact, Washington demands ceasefire in Afghanistan and inclusion of the Kabul government in the peace process. But the Taliban refused to accept the US demands and want the process to be resumed from right where it broke off, while Washington wants a fresh start, particularly with respect to its two demands.

On September 9, US President Donald Trump canceled a meeting with representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban at the US Camp David following an attack in Kabul which killed a dozen people, including a US service member. Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban "dead" after the incident.

If the peace talks between the two sides succeed, the United States would pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan within 135 days of signing an agreement with the Taliban.

The pullout would be the start of what is expected to be the gradual withdrawal of all 14,000 United States troops that could end America’s longest running war.

It could be the beginning of an end to the nearly two decades of American military presence in Afghanistan, which began with the attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001. The war has cost the lives of tens of thousands of Afghans and more than 3,500 American and coalition soldiers.

The initial troop withdrawal would mean the closing of five military bases or the transfer of those bases to the Afghan government.

In an interview to an Afghan news channel, Zalmay Khalilzad said the United States has reached an agreement “in principle” with the Afghan insurgents, but added that the final approval rested with President Trump.

The deal with the Taliban is intended to immediately reduce violence in several provinces where the American troops would start to leave, though the exact nature of that reduction, whether it would essentially be an expanded ceasefire, was not clear.

Khalilzad pointed out that as part of the agreement, the US would reserve the right to assist Afghan forces should they be attacked by the Taliban.