US-Taliban partial truce

The United States and the Afghan Taliban have secured a seven-day truce in violence raising hopes for a peace agreement to end the decades-old war in the country. US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence and said that a peace deal was “very close” now after the ceasefire.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper announced the partial truce following a NATO meeting in Brussels. He said the only solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement and progress has been made on that front. A day earlier Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reported that there has been notable progress in negotiations with the militants. The end to hostilities and reduction in violence was the main sticking point for the peace deal and now it seems that the long-standing conflict may be nearing an end.

The truce has been enforced for seven days only and a limited pause in hostilities could be rather insufficient. The Pentagon chief said there would be a continuous evaluation of violence if the peace process moves forward. The US and the Afghan Taliban have been holding talks since December in the Qatari capital Doha. These developments are an indication of significant progress in the negotiations.

The partial truce could lead to the tentative peace deal that would see the US pull out thousands of troops from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban would in return provide security guarantees and eventually launch talks with the Kabul government, something which he refused during the negotiation process. There are still 13,000 US troops in Afghanistan ever since NATO invaded the country after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The Afghan Taliban still control forty percent of the territory and have continued attacks even as the news of a potential truce was made. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there should be a significant reduction in violence and not merely on a piece of paper but rather demonstrated.

The peace deal has been long overdue as both sides have been indulged in talks stretched for more than a year. Trump abruptly ended talks last year but has now given approval to the deal to start withdrawing US troops. The US president wants to cite the peace deal as his achievement as he heads towards a second presidential term later his year. This is more significant for ordinary Afghan citizens who have been yearning for peace to return to their country.