task0778
Diamond Member
During the final 11 months of Trump's presidency (after the agreement with the Taliban was signed) there were no US service men killed in Afghanistan. There were however clashes between the Taliban and the Afghan security forces, which I believe was in violation of that agreement but not certain about when. Were those clashes before, during, or after Trump started to pull troops out of Afghanistan?
We do not know what was being done by the Trump people about that behind the scenes.
I do not believe this is true, it appears the Taliban had little interest in negotiating with the Afghan gov't. Intra-Afghan talks between the Afghan gov't and the Taliban aimed at reaching a comprehensive peace settlement began in Doha, Qatar, in September 2020, representing a major step toward resolving the conflict. The two sides have met sporadically, but appear to remain far apart on the two key issues that appear to be central to talks—reducing violence and determining the future structure and orientation of the Afghan state. The U.S.-Taliban agreement committed the Taliban to entering talks with the Afghan government by March, but negotiations remained unscheduled for months amid complications including gridlock in Kabul due to the disputed September 2019 presidential election, delays to a prisoner exchange between Taliban and the Afghan government, and ongoing violence. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, Ghani’s electoral opponent and former partner in a unity government, agreed in May 2020 to end their political impasse and appoint Abdullah as chairman of the newly-created High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) to oversee talks with the Taliban. The prisoner exchange was completed in early September 2020, removing the main obstacle to intra-Afghan talks, which began in Doha that month. The two sides have met intermittently in recent months, with some describing the talks as stalled.
