US negotiates reduction in violence with Taliban

The United States has negotiated a seven-day reduction in violence with Taliban

According to Pentagon chief, Mark Esper, the negotiation is aimed to help seek a truce in Afghanistan.

“The United States and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction in violence,” Esper told reporters in Brussels during his meetings with NATO colleagues.

“We’ve said all along that the best, if not the only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on that front and we’ll have more to report on that soon, I hope,” he noted.

“It is our view that seven days for now is sufficient but in all things our approach to this process will be conditions based, I will say it again, conditions based,” he added.

Meanwhile, Afghan government demands complete ceasefire with Taliban

The US and the Taliban have been locked in gruelling talks that have stretched over more than a year, seeking an end to Afghanistan’s 18-year war, the US’s longest conflict.

US President Donald Trump has given conditional approval to a deal with the Taliban to allow him to start withdrawing US troops.

It was reported that the partial truce could lead to the signing of a US-Taliban peace deal that would see the US pull thousands of troops from Afghanistan, in return for which the Taliban would provide various security guarantees and launch eventual talks with the Kabul government.

“It will be a continual evaluative process as we go forward – if we go forward,” said Esper.