Image Source: TRIBUNE

The US and Taliban will sign an agreement on February 29 at the end of a week-long period of “violence reduction” in Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Taliban announced on Friday.

The agreement could represent a chance for peace after 18 years of war and a US troop presence that dates back to 2001, as well as boosting US President Donald Trump’s hopes of pulling American forces out of Afghanistan. However, past attempts at negotiating peace agreements have been scuttled by Taliban attacks on international forces.