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Bloomberg
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo ventured abroad for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit the US in full force, making a surprise visit to Afghanistan’s capital on Monday as part of a bid to inject new momentum into an already faltering peace process with the Taliban.
Pompeo was expected to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in a push to bring the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government together for talks more than three weeks after the US signed a deal to withdraw its troop in exchange for Taliban promises to keep the country from becoming a haven for terrorists.
Afghanistan’s government has also been riven by an internal power struggle, with President Ghani and the country’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, being sworn in as the new leaders in competing ceremonies earlier this month. Pompeo is also set to meet with Abdullah on the visit.
The Taliban was supposed to have started broader peace negotiations with the government by about March 10.
But that hasn’t happened yet, and the Taliban has since stepped up attacks on Afghan forces, including an ambush that may have killed more than 20 members of Afghanistan’s security forces last week.
The two sides have also argued over the release of thousands of Taliban prisoners whose freedom the group says is necessary for talks to commence.
The trip is Pompeo’s first since the US drastically scaled back work and school life in a bid to fight the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month. His last trip overseas, to Africa and the Middle East, ended on February. 22.