U.S., Taliban Set to Sign Deal to End War in Afghanistan
KABUL (Dispatches) – A week after the truce deal announced by the U.S. and the Taliban armed group in Afghanistan, the two are set to sign a deal that could signal the end of the U.S.’s longest war.
The week-long truce has largely held as the two sides prepare to sign a deal on Saturday that comes after nearly two years of protracted negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha.
At least 19 security forces and four civilians have been killed during the period - a marked decrease compared with past weeks - that the Afghan government attributed to the Taliban.
The signing of the deal in Doha will unlock intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and Afghan stakeholders, including the country’s West-backed government, to decide the future course of the country.
Calling the deal a pre-agreement, analysts say the real challenge in establishing lasting peace is the intra-Afghan talks, whose details have yet to be spelled out.
"It is important to note that the agreement that will likely be signed on February 29 between the Taliban and the U.S. is not a peace deal,” Andrew Watkins, senior analyst on Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
"Instead, this is the result of a precursor phase of the Afghan peace process, one that was necessary to bring the Taliban to the table with the Afghan government and political leadership for a substantive dialogue.”
Watkins, also pointed out that the U.S. and Taliban were not meant to map out key questions on the future of Afghanistan. Instead, these decisions, Watkins pointed out, are meant to be made in the intra-Afghan negotiations.
"The U.S.-Taliban deal should be seen as having provided a window, or opportunity, for a political settlement and peaceful end to the conflict. But so much work towards that end remains to be done,” he said.
Those talks, analysts and government officials say, could take months due to divisions between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah over key issues.
Last week, Abdullah contested the results of the presidential elections after incumbent President Ghani was declared the winner. Any future political process in the country will be difficult unless the two rivals resolve their differences.
The week-long truce has largely held as the two sides prepare to sign a deal on Saturday that comes after nearly two years of protracted negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha.
At least 19 security forces and four civilians have been killed during the period - a marked decrease compared with past weeks - that the Afghan government attributed to the Taliban.
The signing of the deal in Doha will unlock intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and Afghan stakeholders, including the country’s West-backed government, to decide the future course of the country.
Calling the deal a pre-agreement, analysts say the real challenge in establishing lasting peace is the intra-Afghan talks, whose details have yet to be spelled out.
"It is important to note that the agreement that will likely be signed on February 29 between the Taliban and the U.S. is not a peace deal,” Andrew Watkins, senior analyst on Afghanistan at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera.
"Instead, this is the result of a precursor phase of the Afghan peace process, one that was necessary to bring the Taliban to the table with the Afghan government and political leadership for a substantive dialogue.”
Watkins, also pointed out that the U.S. and Taliban were not meant to map out key questions on the future of Afghanistan. Instead, these decisions, Watkins pointed out, are meant to be made in the intra-Afghan negotiations.
"The U.S.-Taliban deal should be seen as having provided a window, or opportunity, for a political settlement and peaceful end to the conflict. But so much work towards that end remains to be done,” he said.
Those talks, analysts and government officials say, could take months due to divisions between President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah over key issues.
Last week, Abdullah contested the results of the presidential elections after incumbent President Ghani was declared the winner. Any future political process in the country will be difficult unless the two rivals resolve their differences.