Under draft peace accord, U.S. would withdraw 5,400 troops from Afghanistan

As the special U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan appeared on television Monday to share details on the U.S.-Taliban draft peace accord, a car bomb went off in Kabul, killing at least five civilians and wounding 50. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, and said it targeted foreign forces.

The U.S. diplomat, Zalmay Khalilzad, was in Kabul to go over the deal with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. There are now 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and under the accord, nearly 5,400 would leave the country within the next five months. In exchange, the Taliban would make sure that militant groups do not use Afghanistan as a base for attacks against the United States and its allies.

The peace talks have been taking place in Qatar, and Khalilzad said President Trump still has to give the final approval. The Taliban has had a resurgence in Afghanistan in recent years, and the BBC found in 2018 that the militants are active in 70 percent of the country.

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