Defense Secretary Mark Esper says American forces will begin pulling out of Afghanistan despite renewed attacks Monday by the Taliban militant group following the weekend signing of the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement aimed at bringing an end to 18 years of bloodshed in America’s longest war.
The Taliban broke the truce Monday by resuming offensives against the Afghan military throughout the country.
Reports said one or more Afghan Army soldiers and two unit commanders had been killed in the new attacks in Badghis and in the Takht-a-Pul area of Garmsir. A police officer was also killed in the Narkh district of Maidan Wardak province, according to Afghan news reports.
The governor of Zabul, Afghanistan, confirmed the Taliban attacked two highway police checkpoints.
Afghan security officials also reported fighting with Taliban militants in at least five locations around the country.
A Taliban spokesperson said earlier the group would not attack U.S. forces, reports said.
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At least five people were reported killed and another 10 were injured in an explosion in or near a soccer stadium in Nader Shah, Afghanistan, where witnesses said a motorcycle bomb exploded. The Taliban later denied responsibility for that attack.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference Monday with Esper, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “I would caution everybody to think that there’s going to be an absolute cessation of violence in Afghanistan. That is probably not going to happen. It’s probably not going to go to zero.”
Credit: Susan Walsh
Credit: Susan Walsh
Meanwhile, Esper said he has given the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan the go-ahead to begin the initial withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Esper said he was not sure whether the drawdown had begun, but said it is required to start within 10 days of the signing Saturday of a peace deal with the Taliban.
Esper said Gen. Scott Miller, the U.S. commander in Kabul, has the authority to begin withdrawal of forces to about 8,600 from the current total of nearly 13,000.
“We are going to show good faith and begin withdrawing our troops,” Esper said.
Esper said the U.S. expects violence will “taper off,” leading to a start by March 10 of peace negotiations among Afghan groups, including the Taliban.
Afghanistan’s president had said Sunday that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with a timetable for a speedy prisoner release laid out just a day earlier in a U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. The Taliban have threatened to not take part in the talks until prisoners are freed.
President Ashraf Ghani’s comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.
— Information provided by Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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