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Trump visits US troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving Trump visits US troops in Afghanistan on Thanksgiving
(32 minutes later)
US President Donald Trump has made an unannounced visit to American troops in Afghanistan, his first trip to the country since taking office in 2017. President Donald Trump has made an unannounced visit to American troops in Afghanistan and said the US and the Taliban have been engaged in talks.
The visit for Thanksgiving comes a week after a prisoner swap with the Taliban aimed at restarting peace talks. "The Taliban wants to make a deal," Mr Trump told troops at Bagram airbase on his first trip to the country, where he also met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
"The Taliban wants to make a deal," Mr Trump told troops at Bagram airbase. The visit for Thanksgiving comes after a prisoner swap with the Taliban aimed at resuming peace negotiations.
Mr Trump, who also met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, said the US was "substantially" reducing troop numbers in Afghanistan, without giving details. Mr Trump also said the US was "substantially" reducing troop numbers.
Some 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan, 18 years after the US invaded the country after the 11 September 2001 attacks, making it America's longest war. Some 13,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan in what has become America's longest war, 18 years after the US intervention to oust the Taliban after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
Talks with the Taliban collapsed in September, after President Trump had invited senior Taliban leaders and President Ghani to meet at the US presidential retreat of Camp David, near Washington DC. Mr Trump did not give exact numbers but said he was proceeding with a plan to cut troop levels to about 8,600. "We're going to stay until such time as we have a deal or we have total victory, and they want to make a deal very badly."
Talks with the Taliban collapsed in September after President Trump had invited senior Taliban leaders and President Ghani to meet at the US presidential retreat of Camp David, near Washington DC.
"We're meeting with them [Taliban] and we say it has to be a ceasefire and they didn't want to do a ceasefire and now they want to do a ceasefire, I believe," Mr Trump said. "It will probably work out that way.""We're meeting with them [Taliban] and we say it has to be a ceasefire and they didn't want to do a ceasefire and now they want to do a ceasefire, I believe," Mr Trump said. "It will probably work out that way."
During a visit that lasted two-and-a-half hours, Mr Trump served turkey to troops at the base near Kabul and sat down to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them. He then posed for photographs and addressed the troops, in a trip that was shrouded in secrecy for security reasons.
Earlier this month, the Taliban freed two Western academics who had been held hostage since 2016 - American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks - in exchange for three imprisoned senior militants.Earlier this month, the Taliban freed two Western academics who had been held hostage since 2016 - American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks - in exchange for three imprisoned senior militants.
During a visit that would reportedly last two-and-a-half hours, Mr Trump served turkey to some troops and sat down to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them.