WASHINGTON - Weeks after President Donald Trump’s remarks that all US troops will be out of Afghanistan by the end of the year, a top US lawmaker said that there was no actual plan to withdraw troops by Christmas.
US House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith on Thursday echoed US officials, who have reportedly said they were not aware of the plan. 
The US lawmaker said the military will continue a gradual pullout.
“I think the idea of bringing those numbers down as the president has done makes a lot of sense,” Smith said at a Center for New American Security webinar as quoted by Defense News. “Now, there’s been sort of a plan to do that, and there’s sort of been a tweet we should get out by Christmas. Well, there’s no plan to get out by Christmas, there’s just not. The White House hasn’t submitted one and the Pentagon doesn’t have one.”
Afghan analysts said there is a need for pressure by the US on the Taliban to move the peace process forward.
“The US should put pressure on the Taliban to get a result from the peace negotiations,” said Amir Mohammad Khaksar, a lawmaker.
“We should have been in an offensive status (against the Taliban). We should have captured the territories to press the Taliban to attend the negotiations table,” said Tamim Nuristani, a political analyst in Kabul.
Meanwhile, some women’s rights activists in a virtual meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the gains on women’s rights should not be sacrificed in the peace negotiations.
“Peace cannot come at the cost of women’s rights,” said Zarqa Yaftali, chairperson, the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation.
“The liberties we were given over the past 18 years, our presence in society and our presence in politics should be protected,” said Fazila Hoorzad, a women’s rights activist.
Sources familiar with the talks in Doha said on Friday that US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Afghan republic and the Taliban negotiators this week. 
The sources said that the State of Qatar, as a facilitator, has exchanged many recommended plans between the two teams to move the process forward.
The talks have delayed over two disputed points on its procedural rules: the religious basis for the negotiations and the connection of the US-Taliban deal with the talks. (TOLO NEWS)