An end in sight for Afghans

Jubilant Afghans are celebrating in the streets with bike races and dances to mark a historic turning point in the long-standing war and daring to even dream of peace. The United States and the Afghan Taliban have finally agreed to sign a historic peace deal on February 29.

A week-long partial truce has gone into effect as both sides agreed to a reduction in violence which will set the conditions for the peace deal. A successful week of ceasefire and a lull in hostilities would prove that the Taliban can control their forces and demonstrate good faith.  If all goes well, we would witness the final agreement being signed later this month in Doha.

The Afghan war has been America’s longest-war and the agreement could see the US withdraw as much as 12,000 troops from the country. The UN’s mission in Afghanistan said that more than 10,000 people have been killed or wounded in 2019 alone. The ceasefire gives a much-needed respite to civilians who have faced the brunt of the bloody war and have celebrated the occasion.

While the move is temporary and fraught with uncertainty, it marks a historic step as people want peace in the country. There are scant details on how the reduction in violence will work and whether the Afghan Taliban will honour the agreement. The truce is laced with complications and could fail anytime. The US said they will monitor the situation in case there is a spike in violence.

The US has been in talks with Afghan Taliban since the past one year. Both sides were on the verge of peace deal last September before being abruptly cancelled by President Donald Trump. The US wanted the Taliban to given security guarantees a promise to hold talks with Afghan government. The Taliban’s deputy leader, Sirajudding Haqqani, wrote an extraordinary op-ed in the New York Times stating they were fully committed to stand by the agreement.

Pakistan played a crucial role in the entire process and supported direct negotiations between the US and Afghan Taliban. Prime Minister Imran Khan said that things are moving in the right direction for the first time in years. This is not the end as the next step would be intra-Afghan negotiations for political settlements to bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The international community should play its role to help rebuild Afghanistan which has suffered the horrific effect of war. Afghan should seize and the moment to ensure that peace is sustained and their dream for a better homeland finally comes to realisation. For Afghans daring to dream for peace, an end is finally in sight.