In a rare move, the two men hopped out of armored SUVs in several locations, including an indoor shopping mall and an outdoor strip of stores surrounded by tall buildings, with several U.S. Special Operations soldiers on Miller’s security team.

“When you see the minister of defense out walking, that actually matters,” Miller said in a brief interview on a city street. “I think that’s really the key piece.”

The shops they visited sold rugs, shampoo, gold jewelry and perfume. Civilians gathered around them after each stop, often jostling for position to introduce themselves as Miller’s security forces watched closely.

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Miller, who carried a holstered pistol, pointed out that it was “not a huge protection detail” accompanying him and the defense minister.

“I think that’s important for the people to see,” Miller said.

Both he and Asadullah have been targeted in Afghanistan before, including an October 2018 attack in Kandahar province in which Miller escaped unscathed but three senior Afghan officials were killed and three Americans were wounded. Asadullah survived a suicide attack in 2012 that required hospitalization in the United States.

The reduction in violence is meant to be a confidence-building measure allowing for additional negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban to find peace. Since the agreement began Saturday, the United States has not fired on the Taliban by ground or air. The Taliban also has significantly reduced attacks, with most incidents typically described as harassing fire on Afghan military convoys.

Several miles away in another part of Kabul, a bomb exploded Wednesday, wounding several people while Miller and Asadullah visited with civilians. The Taliban quickly issued a statement saying they were not involved, but it was not clear who was responsible. The Islamic State, which is not a party to the reduction-of-violence agreement and is also in conflict with the Taliban, is one possibility.

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Pop-up attacks have occurred in other parts of the country over the past few days, killing several Afghan civilians and security forces. But Miller said the violence reduction is generally holding.

If the situation stands, senior U.S. and Taliban officials are expected to sign an agreement this weekend that could reduce the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from about 12,000 to 8,600 over the next few months.

Additional troop cuts would follow if Taliban fighters continue to hold their fire. The United States also would alter its mission in Afghanistan from carrying out a record-setting number of strikes this year on both the Islamic State and Taliban to focusing heavily on counterterrorism operations against the Islamic State.

Miller and Asadullah’s outing came during a days-long dispute between senior Afghan officials over who won their recent presidential election, which U.S. officials warned could undermine peace negotiations. The incumbent, Ashraf Ghani, was declared the winner by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission last week, but his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, rejected the results and pledged to form a parallel government.

Ghani’s inauguration had been scheduled for Thursday but was postponed for two weeks, effectively delaying a political crisis until after the United States is expected to sign a peace deal with the Taliban.

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A State Department statement Tuesday said the postponement would support the peace process, but the Afghanistan presidential palace disputed that Wednesday. In a statement, Afghan officials said “rumors about coronavirus” in Afghanistan and a short timeline prevented world leaders from attending the inauguration. (The virus has killed more than 2,400 in China, and at least one positive case has been reported in western Afghanistan.)

Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. diplomat negotiating with the Taliban, said in tweets on Wednesday that he welcomed Ghani’s decision to postpone.