U.S. personnel in Kabul. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images/File)

(CNSNews.com) – After a shaky start, an agreement signed between the U.S. and the Taliban late last month is inching forward, with Monday’s announcement that a U.S. troop drawdown has begun, and indications that Afghanistan’s president will issue a decree Tuesday on Taliban prisoner releases.

Under the deal, roughly one-third of the 12,000-13,000 U.S. troops now in Afghanistan are due to be withdrawn within 135 days of the signing (making July 13 the target date).

If the Taliban complies with its commitments in the agreement, the remaining 8,600 U.S. troops, and those of its NATO allies, are supposed to leave within a further 9.5 months (more or less by the end of April next year.)

U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement the “conditions-based reduction of forces” has begun.

“USFOR-A maintains all the military means and authorities to accomplish our objectives – including conducting counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda and ISIS-K and providing support to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces,” he said.

“USFOR-A is on track to meet directed force levels while retaining the necessary capabilities.”

(ISIS-K is the Afghanistan affiliate of the group formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.)

The first hurdle in the agreement emerged within a day of its Feb. 29 signing in Doha, when President Ashraf Ghani balked at a provision for his government to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners by March 10.

In response to his stance, the Taliban resumed attacks against Afghan forces last week, prompting the U.S. in turn to launch punitive strikes against the terrorist group.

On Monday, however, Ghani – who was inaugurated for a second term – signaled he would issue a decree Tuesday on talks with the Taliban and prisoner releases.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had witnessed the Doha signing, said the U.S. welcomed “President Ghani’s announcement that he will issue a decree March 10 on Taliban prisoner release and the formation of a national team for intra-Afghan negotiations.”

The developments come against a background of political uncertainty in Kabul, as Ghani’s rival in last September’s election, Abdullah Abdullah, has refused to accept the incumbent’s narrow victory in a voting exercise marred by a poor turnout and allegations of vote-rigging.

So on Monday, Abdullah held a separate swearing-in ceremony.

In his statement, Pompeo alluded to the rivalry and resulting instability:

“We strongly oppose any action to establish a parallel government, and any use of force to resolve political differences,” he said.

After a previous presidential election ended in deadlock, in 2014, the narrowly-defeated Abdullah was given the newly-created post of “chief executive,” akin to a position of prime minister.

With the revival of the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah, U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been trying to mediate a solution, although no progress has been reported.

Restoring the ‘Islamic Emirate’?

The Taliban’s obligations in the agreement with the U.S. include taking specific steps to ensure al-Qaeda does not again use Afghan territory to threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies.

The group is expected to instruct its members not to cooperate with al-Qaeda; to prevent it from “recruiting, training, and fundraising,” and not to host it or provide its operatives with asylum or residence, visas, passports or other legal documents.

The Taliban’s long alliance with al-Qaeda is at the root of America’s longest war. In the aftermath of al-Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. in September 2001, the U.S. invaded to topple the fundamentalist militia for sheltering Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization.

Since the mid-1990s the Taliban had ruled most of the country under the name “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” a controversial entity recognized by just three countries – Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Taliban still calls itself by that name, and at times refers in its rhetoric to Afghanistan’s future in those terms.

The U.S. does not recognize the label, however, and in the U.S.-Taliban agreement the group is referred to each time as “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban.”

On the day the agreement was signed, the U.S. agreed to two other joint statements, one with Russia, and another with representatives of European allies and the United Nations.

Both statements included a clause reaffirming that “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” is not recognized by the international community – and adding that “the international community will not accept or support the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”





