US Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Makes Unannounced Visits To Kabul, Doha To Save Afghan Peace Deal

United States (US)'s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday (23 March) flew down to Kabul in Afghanistan and Doha in Qatar in unannounced visit to meet with the Afghan government and the leadership of the Afghan Taliban to prevent the recently signed peace deal from falling out, reports Asian News International (ANI).

In Kabul, Secretary Pompeo held interaction with President Ashraf Ghani and also his political rival Abdullah Abdullah. It should be noted that Abdullah had also claimed to have emerged victorious in the recently held elections in which President Ghani had won the mandate of the Afghan people.

Meanwhile, in Doha, Secretary Pompeo is said to have held talks with Taliban's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar to ensure that the Taliban continues to abide by the deal which was signed between it and the US government just last month.

The peace deal, which was signed on 29 February after prolonged negotiations stretching over several months, aims to end the 18-year-long war which the US had launched against Taliban in the wake of the 9/11 terror strike in America. As a part of the deal, the US will pull back all its troops from Afghanistan within a span of 14 months.