02/29/2020 - 16:11
- Clarín.com
- World
More than 18 years after the US invasion that overthrew the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Washington signed an agreement with the insurgents in Qatar on Saturday to end an expensive war and withdraw forces. The main points of the text, to which the EFE agency had access.
1. Dialogue among Afghans
The Taliban have pledged to start peace negotiations with the Afghan government on March 10, the next step to end the war and a process during which the implementation of a "permanent and comprehensive" ceasefire will be discussed. Government and Taliban held a meeting in Pakistan in 2015, but the process was suspended shortly after knowing the death of the founder of the insurgent movement, mullah Omar, and since then there has been only one occasional meeting "between Afghans" without official representation of the Executive.
2. Departure of international troops
USA is committed to withdrawing from Afghanistan all its military forces , its allies and its coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, instructors, advisers and support service personnel within 14 months . In the first 135 days, US troops will be reduced to 8,600 and the military will leave five bases.
Soldiers from the United States, at Kandahar airport to go on a mission in Afghanistan, in an image from 2001. / AP
3. Withdrawal of sanctions
According to the pact, Washington has also pledged to review the sanctions and rewards for the capture of members of the insurgent group, which is expected to be withdrawn by August 27, one of the Taliban's main demands since even before it began. the dialogue. In addition, the Donald Trump Administration will push diplomatic efforts with other members of the UN Security Council, as well as with Afghanistan, to try to remove the Taliban from other sanctions lists with May 29 as the deadline.
Timeline of the US war in Afghanistan since 2001. / AFP
4. Exchange of prisoners
The historic peace agreement stipulates that some 5,000 Taliban prisoners will be released, while the insurgents will do the same with 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces by the time the dialogue between Afghans begins on March 10. "The relevant parties have the objective of releasing all other prisoners in the period of the following three months," the document said.
5. Afghanistan will not be a terrorist base
The Taliban pledge that Afghanistan will not be used by any terrorist group, including al Qaeda, to launch attacks against the United States and its allies. After the 9/11 attacks, which caused almost 3,000 deaths in the US, the Taliban, then in power in Kabul, refused to hand over the founder of the al Qaeda terrorist network, Osama bin Laden, who at that time He was hiding in Afghanistan. To prevent this situation from happening again, insurgents will indoctrinate their ranks so that they do not associate with individuals that pose a threat to American security and are prohibited from welcoming any of these individuals.