The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has declined to sign the peace pact between the US and Taliban due to risks involved in it.
According to a report published in The Time, Pompeo is shying away from a deal which could be too risky for the interest of the US. As per senior Afghan and Trump Administration officials privy to the discussion, the "agreement in principle", that US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has chalked out with Taliban representatives in Qatar, would leap the first step towards peace since the US, along with the NATO forces, entered Afghanistan after 9/11 attacks in 2001.
As suggested by senior administration officials, Defense Secretary Mark Esper was scheduled to discuss every detail of the deal with US President Donald Trump on September 3. The deal, if approved by Trump, would start the withdrawal of some 5,400 US troops, which is roughly one-third of total forces present in Afghanistan from five bases within 4-5 months.
One of the Afghan officials said: "No one speaks with certainty. None. It is all based on hope. There is no trust. There is no history of trust. There is no evidence of honesty and sincerity from the Taliban," and intercepted communications by the US "show that Taliban think they have fooled the US while the U.S. believes that should the Taliban cheat, they will pay a hefty price."
This could certainly be the reason why Pompeo has declined to sign the deal. According to four US, Afghan and European officials the Taliban has asked Pompeo to ink the agreement under the name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the official name of the government founded by the Taliban in Afghanistan back in 1996.
If the US secretary of state was to sign such a deal that would give a de facto recognition to the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, the militia would press to come on par with the US.
Due to the increasing tensions between the Taliban and the US, a suicide attack was carried out by the militia near the US embassy in Kabul, due to which, at least 10 civilians were killed and 42 were reported injured.
