Violence May Delay U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan

The authors forcefully underline the challenges of the May 2021 deadline for US troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan that was part of the Trump administration’s “peace deal” with the Taliban. As the Kabul government was side-lined from the US peace talks with the Taliban back in February 2020, now the stakes are even much higher with the administration change in Washington. This article highlights a possible spring fighting between the Afghan government and the Taliban. A particular emphasis is given to the retainment of Zalmay Khalilzad as the US envoy, which concerns Kabul as diplomat Khalilzad is not trusted for his excluding the Afghanistan government from negotiations. Although the partial release of 5000 Taliban prisoners had made the peace negotiation possible between Kabul and the Taliban leadership in Doha, it certainly did not decrease the level of violence in the country. Adding to that, Pakistan and Iran have been closely talking to the Taliban leadership explicitly.