WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2020) The United States expects to meet all timelines for withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan, Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman told reporters on Friday.
"We are still moving forward with the force reduction levels that we are committed to," he said during a press briefing. "We expect to meet that within the timeline laid out under the agreement [with] the Taliban."
On February 29, the United States and the Taliban signed a peace agreement following months of talks. It came on the heels of a pact to reduce violence between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The peace agreement's main premises are the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and the launch of intra-Afghan peace talks, subject to a mutual exchange of prisoners.
There has been little progress to the peace process ever since, chiefly due to an internal power crisis in Kabul and disruptions during the prisoners' swap.
Tensions between the Afghan government and Taliban intensified this week after Kabul blamed the insurgent movement for an attack on a hospital that the US attributed to the Islamic State-Khorasan (a terrorist group banned in Russia).
