Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced that the United States and the Taliban have agreed to a one-week “reduction in violence.”
The short-term measure is a significant step in negotiations with the Taliban that may end in U.S. troop withdrawals from the beleaguered country. The U.S. has said it would pull some forces from the country if the Taliban reduces violence. Esper announced the temporary arrangement at a NATO conference in Brussels on Thursday.
“The United States and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence,” he said. “I am here today consulting with allies about this proposal, and we’ve had a series of productive bilateral and collective meetings about the path forward.
“We’ve said all along that the best, if not only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on this front, and we will have more to report on that soon, I hope,” he added.
The seven-day reduction comes after a recent analysis found that the Taliban had surpassed the Islamic State to become the world’s deadliest nonstate armed group.
A total of 21 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan last year, 19 in combat and two in what the Pentagon said were “noncombat incidents,” according to a count by the Washington Examiner.
