Tweet Taliban Welcomes Trump’s Promise To Bring Us Troops In Afghanistan ‘home For Christmas’

The Taliban has welcomed the tweet by President Donald Trump pledging for U.S. troops in Afghanistan to return home before the end of the year, amid concerns that such a move could jeopardize the deal agreed earlier this year aimed at ending two decades of conflict.

Just hours after Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, had said that U.S forces in the country would be halved to 2,500 by early 2021, Trump tweeted on Wednesday: “We should have the small remaining number of our BRAVE Men and Women serving in Afghanistan home by Christmas!”

The Doha agreement struck in the Qatari capital between the Taliban and the U.S. in February was intended to allow the drawdown of foreign forces by May 2021, in exchange for security guarantees and a pledge by the group to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with the Afghan government.