The United States stressed that its historic agreement with the Taliban had entered a " new stage ", while demanding a reduction in violence in Afghanistan. For their part, the Taliban accused the United States on Tuesday of " gross violations " of the text signed in February.
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This agreement, from which the Afghan government has been excluded, aims to withdraw foreign troops from the country in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban and the start of an inter-Afghan peace dialogue. During the first phase, the United States undertook to reduce its personnel from 12,000 to 8,600 men within 135 days and to completely withdraw its forces from five military bases. Washington has since announced that it has withdrawn its forces from Afghanistan to the level provided for in this text.
On the 135th day, the US envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated the deal, tweeted that the two sides had reached " a milestone ." " The United States has worked hard to complete the first phase of its commitments under the agreement, " he wrote on Monday.
As the agreement enters its " next phase, " Washington has some conditions, warned Khalilzad. " We will exert pressure to complete the release of prisoners, achieve a reduction in violence ..., and launch and progress in the inter-Afghan negotiations ," he said.