A former Afghan ambassador to Canada says the agreement reached this past weekend between the United States and the Taliban represents the closing of a chapter for his country that began on Sept. 11, 2001.
But former envoy Omar Samad calls it more of “peace opportunity” than an actual deal, and a lot depends on what happens next.
Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. would begin withdrawing about 12,000 military troops over the next 14 months if the Taliban can break ties with terrorist groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State.
The Canadian Forces deployed troops over 13 years, which included a five-year period of intense combat between 2006 and 2011 when a reconstituted Taliban insurgency reared its head.
Canada ended its combat mission in 2011 and withdrew the last of its military training personnel in 2014.
A total of 158 Canadian military personnel and seven civilians from Canada were killed in the war.