US to review Taliban deal

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration says it will review a landmark US deal with the Taliban, focusing on whether the latter had reduced attacks in Afghanistan in keeping with its commitment.

Washington struck a deal with the Taliban in Qatar last year to begin withdrawing troops in return for security guarantees from the militia and a commitment to kickstart peace talks with the Afghan government.

However, violence has surged across Afghanistan despite the two sides engaging in talks since September. National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan spoke to his Afghan counterpart Hamdullah Mohib and "made clear the United States’ intention to review" the deal, said National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne late Friday.

Specifically, Washington wants to check that the Taliban are "living up to their commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders," her statement continued.

It added that Sullivan "underscored that the US will support the peace process with a robust and regional diplomatic effort, which will aim to help the two sides achieve a durable and just political settlement and permanent ceasefire."

Sullivan also discussed the United States’ support for protecting recent progress made on women and minority groups’ rights as part of the peace process. When contacted, the Taliban said they remained "committed to the agreement and honour our commitments.

"We expect the other side to remain committed to the agreement too," Mohammad Naeem, the group´s spokesman in Qatar, told AFP. Washington’s move was met with a sigh of relief from officials in Kabul after months of speculation over how the new administration would potentially recalibrate the Afghan policy.

Hamdullah Mohib tweeted that during the call the two sides "agreed to work toward a permanent ceasefire and a just and durable peace" in the country. Another top Afghan government official lambasted the Taliban’s failure to live up to the February 2020 deal, saying the agreement had failed to achieve its stated goals. "The agreement so far, did not deliver a desired goal of ending Taliban’s violence and bringing a ceasefire desired by the Afghans," Sediq Sediqqi, Deputy Interior Minister and former spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani said on Twitter.

"The Taliban did not live up to their commitments.” Meanwhile, Zalmey Khalilzad will continue to serve as the top US envoy for Afghan peace talks, reports the US media. Khalilzad — appointed by the Trump administration — led Afghan peace negotiations for more than two years.

"Keeping the negotiator in place, at least for now, demonstrates Biden team's initial commitment to maintaining adherence to the US-Taliban peace agreement until the new team reviews it in detail and fully develops their own Afghanistan policy," a CNN report said relying on three sources familiar with the matter.

The State Department did not comment when asked if Khalilzad will stay on board. Before the current assignment, Khalilzad has served as US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations.

During his confirmation hearing, Anthony Blinken, President Biden’s pick for Secretary of State, reiterated the new administration's commitment to ending the war in Afghanistan but indicated that he had not yet been briefed on the US-Taliban agreement in a detailed way, the media report said, adding that Biden’s foreign policy team will immediately have to begin making decisions about the presence of US troops in Afghanistan. That is where things will get dicey: the US-Taliban agreement commits all US and Nato forces will leave the country by May, and that is at odds with a desire by Biden and his foreign policy team to keep residual force in Afghanistan.

"We want to end this so-called forever war. We want to bring our forces home. We want to retain some capacity to deal with any resurgence of terrorism which is what brought us there in the first place," Blinken said during his hearing.