Anisa Sadat
August 31, 2020, 9:40 PM EDT
Washington (Kavian Press)- Democrats in U. S. congress demanded Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper to provide witnesses for a hearing on the peace deal with the Taliban and the broader policy of Trump administration for Afghanistan.
Democrats have accused both departments of ignoring invitations to send witnesses for over a year now and said they would subpoena witnesses for a Sept. 9 hearing if the departments failed to confirm their participation by Wednesday.
According to the agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban this past February, U.S. will withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by May 2021. The deal also encouraged both the Taliban and Kabul government to start intra-Afghan peace talks but both parties have been reluctant to move forward with the peace talks, blaming each other for the delay.
Last month President Donald Trump announced the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be reduced to 4,000 by this November. Democrats have expressed concern that the whole Afghan peace deal and troop reduction in the wake of U.S. election are politically motivated.
Although, Taliban have not attacked U.S. forces since February, but their attacks against Afghan troops and civilians have intensified.
The peace agreement between U.S. and Taliban requires the group to cut all ties with Al-Qaeda and reduce violence against Afghan troops and civilian as the precondition for the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.
