(Asia Times) A week-long \u201creduction in violence\u201d between the Taliban, the US, and Afghan security forces will commence this weekend, an official said on Friday, ahead of the signing of a possible deal between Washington and the insurgents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the partial truce goes ahead, it would mark a historic step after more than 18 years of gruelling conflict in Afghanistan and would pave the way for a deal that could, ultimately, see the war end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe reduction in violence will start from 22 February and will last for one week,\u201d Javed Faisal, Afghanistan\u2019s National Security Council spokesman, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Forces-Afghanistan declined to comment. One Taliban source in Pakistan confirmed to AFP that the partial truce would commence on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States has been in talks with the Taliban for more than a year to secure a deal in which it would pull out thousands of troops in return for Taliban security guarantees and commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A reduction in violence would show the Taliban can control their forces and demonstrate good faith ahead of any signing, which would see the Pentagon withdraw about half of the 12,000 to 13,000 troops currently in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afghan officials have said the US-Taliban deal could be finalised February 29 in Doha, assuming the reduction in violence proceeds to plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Taliban source in Pakistan said: \u201cboth sides have agreed to sign the agreement on February 29\u201d, adding that talks between the Taliban and the government, needed to cement a broader peace deal, are slated to start March 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s happening\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A second Taliban official in Pakistan said the reduction in violence might not start until Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether it is \u201cSaturday or Sunday does not matter. The Taliban leadership council has basically given a green light to start the reduction in violence and sign the deal,\u201d the official said, adding, \u201cit\u2019s happening\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Afghanistan\u2019s southern province of Kandahar, which is seen as the Taliban\u2019s heartland, one insurgent said he had received orders to stand down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have got the orders from our leadership that reduction in violence period will start from Saturday, and we have been ordered to be ready for it,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US and the Taliban have been tantalizingly close to a deal before, only to see President Donald Trump nix it last September at the 11th hour amid continued insurgent violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any truce comes fraught with danger, and analysts warn the attempt to stem Afghanistan\u2019s bloodshed is laced with complications and could fail at any time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or, worse still, they say warring parties could exploit a lull to reconfigure their forces and secure a battlefield advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Thursday, the deputy leader of the Taliban said the insurgents are \u201cfully committed\u201d to a deal with Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat we stuck with such turbulent talks with the enemy we have fought bitterly for two decades, even as death rained from the sky, testifies to our commitment to ending the hostilities and bringing peace to our country,\u201d Sirajuddin Haqqani wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haqqani is also head of the Haqqani network, a US-designated terror group that is one of the most dangerous factions fighting Afghan and US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Asia Times) A week-long \u201creduction in violence\u201d between the Taliban, the US, and Afghan security forces will commence this weekend, an official said on Friday, ahead of the signing of a possible deal between Washington and the insurgents. If the partial truce goes ahead, it would mark a historic step after more than 18 years of gruelling conflict in Afghanistan… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4067,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4066\/revisions\/4067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}