US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad calls for a reduction in violence by all sides in Afghanistan after his Kabul meeting with President Ghani and fellow leader Abdullah Abdullah
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, meet with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 20, 2020
Khalilzad called for a reduction in violence by all sides in Afghanistan's protracted conflict that has kept America militarily engaged for 19 years. US President Donald Trump said again last week that American soldiers have wrongly been tasked with policing the country and called on Afghanistan to step up.The US has about 12,000 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan, split between counter-terrorism and the NATO-led Resolute Support's 16,500 troop mission, which trains and aids Afghanistan's National Security Forces. Washington currently pays about $4 billion annually to keep Afghanistan's military in fighting form.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, say the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan has been linked to foiled plots to attack America in recent years. The same Department of Defense officials said they want the Taliban in the battle to rout Daesh from Afghanistan.
The delay has been blamed on Afghanistan’s squabbling leadership in Kabul and disruptions in prisoner releases, which were promised as part of the peace deal ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations.
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