Five US bases in Afghanistan closed: Official

A US official in Kabul said today that five American bases have closed in Afghanistan in compliance with the peace agreement it signed with the Taliban in February.

According to the unidentified official, the bases were in Helmand, Uruzgan, Paktika and Laghman provinces, reports TOLO News.

US troops in the country have been reduced to 8,600.

NATO has around 12,000 troops under the Resolute Support mission, which includes a portion of the 8,600 total US troops, according to the Resolute Support mission.

The US continues "our counter terror fight against groups like IS and Al Qaeda while also providing training, funding and supplies to ANDSF through the NATO RS mission", said US troops spokesman in Afghanistan today.

The US-Taliban deal signed on February 29 in Doha has remained unimplemented in some parts of the agreement, such as a reduction in violence and intra-Afghan negotiations, which should have happened 135 days after the accord.

The intra-Afghan talks have not started and violence has not been reduced, TOLO News reported.

Yesterday was the 136th day after the peace deal was signed, which raises hopes among the Afghan people and political elites who believed it would lead the country towards negotiations.

The Afghan government has blamed the Taliban for not implementing their commitments, saying the movements by the group should be scrutinized after the peace deal.

The prisoner exchange between the Afghan government and the Taliban is another complicated process that has delayed the intra-Afghan negotiations.

The process should have happened 10 days after the peace deal, according to the agreement.

"Their (Taliban's) key responsibility was a significant reduction in violence and an 'unofficial' ceasefire. Another responsibility of theirs was to cut their ties with all terrorist groups, but you saw in recent reports by the UN and US that this has not happened so far," presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.

"A big role in the peace process is on the Taliban's shoulders.".