US sees ‘significant reduction’ in Afghan violence, prepares to sign historic deal with Taliban

The US has seen a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan during the past six days, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday. The statement comes the day before Washington hopes to sign an American troops withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

“We have seen just these last six days a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan,” Pompeo told lawmakers in Washington.

“We are watching closely to see if the Islamic Republic of Iran begins to take even more active measures… that undermine our efforts at peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan,” he said.

Pompeo’s remark suggested that if the drop in violence continues for a full week as intended, it will be possible to sign the pact as part of a wider effort to promote intra-Afghan reconciliation and to end the US’s longest war, Reuters said.

The US has roughly 13,000 service members stationed in Afghanistan.