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Although there has been increasing acceptance in Kabul that U.S. President Donald Trump was impatient for progress in ending the 17-year war, comment from a U.S. official that he was planning to withdraw at least 5,000 troops, coupled with the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, came as a surprise. Mattis has been widely seen in Afghanistan as a guarantor of U.S. engagement, and his departure would inevitability raise worries in the minds of many Afghan officials. The news followed a two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi between U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives at which the two sides discussed the withdrawal of international forces and a ceasefire in 2019.
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