WASHINGTON —
The South Asia strategy in Afghanistan has spawned intensified dialogue and a drop in Taliban violence, Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of NATO's Resolute Support mission and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, told reporters today.
Speaking to Pentagon media via teleconference from Kabul, Afghanistan, the commander said the goal of the South Asia strategy is reconciliation, and Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani has called it a game changer.
Six months into the strategy, Nicholson said, “we had the elements of a peace proposal outlined by the Taliban in an open letter to America and a formal peace offer by President Ghani,” followed by other communication channels.
Between February, when the peace offers were made, and the end of April, the levels of enemy-initiated violence dropped to 30 percent below the five-year average, Nicholson said.
But on April 25, the Taliban announced their offensive and since then, the violence has increased, but still stands at a level that's 10 percent to 20 percent below the five-year average, he said.
“I call this talking and fighting,” Nicholson said. “And, as [Defense Secretary James N. Mattis] has said, ‘violence and progress can coexist,' and that's what we're seeing.”
The South Asia policy brought additional firepower and…
