Trump welcomes US-Taliban peace deal to end 'a long war'

WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump Saturday said he welcomed the US, Afghan Taliban peace deal which can possibly end a war that has caused anarchy and chaos in the country since almost two decades.

"We are working on ending a long war and bringing back our troops from Afghanistan," the White House quoted Trump as saying.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the peace accord urging all stakeholders to ensure that the spoilers of the peace agreement are kept at bay.

Read more: US, Taliban sign 'peace deal' as Afghanistan looks for end to 18-year war

"Now all stakeholders have to ensure that spoilers are kept at bay. My prayers for peace for the Afghan people who have suffered 4 decades of bloodshed. Pakistan is committed to playing its role in ensuring the agreement holds & succeeds in bringing peace to Afghanistan," he said.

US, Taliban sign 'peace deal'

Senior officials of the US government and the Afghan Taliban congregated in Doha, Qatar to oversee the signing of a landmark peace deal between America and the Taliban.

Read more: PM Imran welcomes US-Taliban deal, says spoilers must be kept at bay

As the ceremony for the occasion started, world leaders were present to see through an agreement that will see America withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after 18 years of war. 

The deal states that the agreement will be followed by intra-Afghanistan negotiations between the Taliban and other Afghanistan stakeholders to decide a future political roadmap for the restive country.These negotiations are set to begin from March 10, 2020.

The US and Coalition forces, in turn, will withdraw troops from the country and not intervene in matters of the post-settlement Afghanistan Islamic government.

The US has also agreed to review and take back sanctions against the Taliban by August 27, 2020. It will then engage with the members of the UN Security Council and Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from the sanctions list. This, the two sides have agreed, will happen by May 29, 2020.

Both sides have agreed to release each others' prisoners as well. The US will seek economic cooperation for reconstruction with the new government in Afghanistan.