Former envoys warn of civil war in Afghanistan if all US troops leave

Kabul: Nine former US ambassadors have warned that Afghanistan could collapse in a “total civil war” if US President Donald Trump withdraws all American forces before the Afghanistan administration and the Taliban conclude a peace settlement. “A major troop withdrawal must be contingent on final peace,” the nine former diplomats wrote on the website of the Atlantic Council, a think tank group on Tuesday. “The initial US drawdown should not go so far or so fast that the Taliban believe they can achieve military victory,” reported Tolo news.

The nine envoys, including five former ambassadors to Kabul, a former special envoy to Afghanistan and a former deputy secretary of State, issued their warning a day after the US chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad said the US and the Taliban have agreed in principle on withdrawal of nearly 5,000 American troops from Afghanistan. Khalilzad in an interview with Tolo news declined to say how long the rest of the roughly 14,000 US troops would stay in Afghanistan. The former envoys wrote that maintaining a major US troop presence would have “a critical influence on the chances for successful peace negotiations.” (IANS)

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