One Year or Five. U.S., Taliban Spar Over Troop-Pullout Timing
- Taliban wants U.S. troops to leave within a year versus five
- Taliban attacks on army base killed more than 20 Afghan troops
Photographer: Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
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The Afghan Taliban rejected a proposal that would result in U.S. forces being withdrawn from the war-torn nation in five years, posing a serious setback to the efforts aimed at ending America’s longest war through negotiations.
The rebel group wants foreign troops to leave the country within a year, according to two former Taliban leaders. The U.S. and the insurgents resumed peace talks on Saturday after a two-day break for internal deliberations, but five rounds of discussions haven’t yielded a breakthrough on the timeline for a withdrawal nor has it elicited a pledge from the Taliban to stop terrorists from using the country as a base.