On Saturday, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the middle-east country Qatar to meet the Taliban and Government of Afghanistan’s negotiators. These negotiators have been trying to restart their peace negotiations after reaching a deadlock. Just hours before Pompeo’s landing, a deadly rocket attack was carried out in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. This signifies the extent of violence in the country at a time when peace negotiations are being carried out.
Reports claim at least eight lives are lost because of the blast and more than 24 people are injured. The locals commuting in the early hours of Saturday fell prey to this deadly attack that alerted the international diplomats in Afghanistan.
In Mr. Pompeo’s agenda, Qatar is the most recent stop where he is looking forward to implementing the foreign policy objectives of President Donald Trump, before he officially leaves the office in January 2021. Early in this week, it was announced by the Pentagon officials that they are working on different plans to reduce the number of the US troops stationed in Afghanistan by more than 50% of the current capacity. As of now, 4,500 troops are in Afghanistan. The Pentagon has announced to reduce this number to 2,500.
The news of this troop withdrawal hasn’t gone down well with the Afghani officials. They are hoping to see a change in this policy under the administration of President-elect Joe Biden. Recently, the Afghani security forces haven’t been able to defend their territories from the attacks of the Taliban.
