Afghanistan Peace CampaignIn Doha, four major issues were on the table: the withdrawal of foreign forces, counterterrorism guarantees, the start of intra-Afghan talks, and a ceasefire.
Five years ago, the last U.S. soldier left Afghanistan, bringing Washington’s nearly two-decade military presence in the country to an end. But the withdrawal did not begin solely on the battlefield.
The path to withdrawal went through the negotiating table in Doha, where, after months of talks, the United States and the Islamic Emirate signed an agreement that set a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
Direct talks between the United States and the Islamic Emirate in Doha became public in 2018, but Abbas Stanikzai said contacts between the two sides had been underway even before then.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a senior member of the Islamic Emirate’s negotiating team at the Doha talks, told TOLOnews on August 23, 2023: “We began negotiations with the Americans in 2007, and from 2007 until 2021, when the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan took place, I was responsible for all negotiations between the United States and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
In Doha, four major issues were on the table: the withdrawal of foreign forces, counterterrorism guarantees, the start of intra-Afghan talks, and a ceasefire.
The process was suspended several times, but eventually, after 18 months of talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, representing the United States, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, representing the Islamic Emirate, signed the “Doha Agreement” on February 29, 2020.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and former head of the Islamic Emirate’s political office in Doha, said: “It is a positive step for the world and the mujahid people, and I congratulate everyone. The Islamic Emirate is committed to implementing this agreement with the United States.”
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “The steps that the Taliban must take are to fulfill the commitments they made under this agreement so that the ground can be paved for lasting peace in Afghanistan.”
Under the agreement, the United States agreed to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan over a 14-month period. The number of U.S. troops was also expected to be reduced to 8,600 within the first 135 days.
Alongside the withdrawal of forces, the Islamic Emirate also made commitments to the United States, including preventing Afghan soil from being used to threaten the United States and its allies. For Washington, the agreement made one thing clear: the end of the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan was approaching.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on February 29, 2020: “Now, after all these years, it’s time to go and bring our people back home. We want to bring our people back home. And again, especially in Afghanistan, it’s been a long journey. It’s been a very long journey. It’s been a difficult journey for everybody.”
Following the agreement, intra-Afghan talks were expected to begin, aimed at reaching a political settlement and a permanent ceasefire.
However, as foreign forces continued to withdraw from Afghanistan, the war also continued. Islamic Emirate forces captured more territory, provinces fell one after another, and eventually the Islamic Emirate took control of the country.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, said on August 16, 2021: “We reached a situation in which no one expected Afghanistan to come under our control in this way.”
Even then, thousands of U.S. troops remained at Kabul airport to evacuate American citizens and eligible Afghans. Finally, on the night of August 30, 2021, the last U.S. soldier left Afghanistan, bringing America’s two-decade military presence in the country to an end.
Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie, then commander of U.S. Central Command, said on August 30, 2021: “I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third-country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans.”
Five years after that withdrawal, the Doha Agreement remains one of the most significant links in the chain of events that took Afghanistan from the U.S. military presence into a new chapter under the rule of the Islamic Emirate—an agreement that promised peace, but whose most significant practical outcome was the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.