US will cut troop levels in Afghanistan to 'less than 5,000' by November end: Mark Esper

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that United States plans to cut down its troop level in Afghanistan to less than 5,000 by end of vember. In a Fox News interview broadcast on August 8, Esper provided details on withdrawal plan that US President Donald Trump had anunced last week.

In an interview with Axios, Trump had said that troops’ number in Afghanistan will go down to 4,000, undercutting assertions of US diplomats that troop reductions would be based on Taliban’s commitment to peace agreement signed in February. Trump has been advocating for a maximum US troops withdrawal from war zones and even called US involvement in Middle East “ single biggest mistake in history of our country.”

Trump and State Department have been loggerheads over troop withdrawal plan as diplomats and military officials have been trying to keep peace process on track. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said United States will calibrate pace of its withdrawal from Afghanistan according to actions of Taliban. 

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Condition-based agreement

Speaking in Doha ahead of signing of a peace deal, Pompeo said that US will closely watch Taliban for ir compliance with ir commitments and calibrate pace of our withdrawal with ir actions. Washington and Kabul, in a joint declaration, had said that US will reduce number of its military forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 and implement or commitments of agreement within 135 days of declaration and US-Taliban agreement. 

It had aid that reduction in number of Coalition forces is subject to Taliban’s fulfilment of its commitments under US-Taliban agreement. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had also emphasised that all contents in agreement are “conditions-based”, adding that withdrawal of foreign forces from region will depend on Taliban's fulfilment of ir commitments.

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