this is d.w. news live from berlin and hopes for peace in afghanistan the taliban and u.s. negotiators are down to sign a deal aimed at ending nearly 2 decades of war. i married to evanston it's good to have you with us the united states and the taliban are poised to sign an agreement aimed at ending nearly 2 decades of conflict in

afghanistan envoys meeting and doha are due to the deal this hour which follows more than a year and a half of talks between the united states and the taliban both sides have committed to a reduction in violence the war in centers on the u.s. starting a phased withdrawal of its troops from afghanistan thought to number between 12 and 13000 in return the taliban has promised not to allow afghanistan to be used as a base for terrorist attacks against the west. well for more we're joined now by our correspondent channel sham's who is in doha covering the signing ceremony for us so will the signing ceremony should be underway this hour what is happening right now. well the u.s. dollar signing ceremony is currently under way u.s.

secretary of state of mike just arrived and he went inside the conference room and there are quite a lot of people inside and many many officials from different different countries different parts of the world many of gone all for shows there are many issues here so it is happening at the moment and any time as we speak the deal can be seen so just to our viewers we're seeing live pictures from doha and the u.s. secretary of stary of state my pump a.o. is addressing the gathering now so i'm a we should note that the afghan government was not involved in these negotiations that have been taking place between just the taliban and the united states over the last year and a half or so so can today's agreement lead to real peace in

afghanistan for the afghani people. yes definitely because they have gone government got some some kind of you know guarantees by the u.s. and it happened. to munich security conference and president mitt romney said that he got to get into these. certain conditions being met they have gone government has not been very happy that it has not been involved in the talks between the taliban and the u.s. it wants more involvement morning agent so it had reservation last year but then the talks abruptly but now they were they were back on track and now they are signing the deal this is a story. which will likely and the conflict the 18 year long war in afghanistan so afghan government did get some guarantees and obviously this part does not

relate to the afghan government and the taliban actually still say that we are not engaging with with the afghan government they call the have gone government the u.s. puppet so we have to understand that the deal which is being being sealed right now is between the taliban and the u.s. because the u.s. in waited of gunnison in 2001 and the taliban believe that all government that followed after the invasion are actually the u.s. puppet regimes so they want to engage the have always wanted to engage with the u.s. so once that this deal is signed here in doha it will lead to an intra gone dialogue with all of the stakeholders who sit together hopefully and sorted out and that would be the ultimate peace it can take weeks it can take months but it is likely to happen now because a major part has been done. we thank you very much. well the fighting in afghanistan has left the country's economy in ruins the u.s.

has spent more than a one trillion dollars on the war which has cost the lives of more than 2000 american troops and tens of thousands of afghans we have this look back at the events that led to today's agreement. the 1st bombs raining down on afghanistan on the night of october 7th 2001. the opening salvo in the war of attrition that would last almost decades. on my orders the united states military has begun strikes against al qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the taliban regime whose an international alliance followed in the subsequent weeks carrying out an intensive. taliban training camps. underpinned by advancing taliban forces on the ground the taliban stronghold khandahar fell in november. celebrations.

from the york of repression. that i was so happy that until now it was like a prisoner of my beard and i'm free meanwhile so was osama bin laden the man the u.s. desperately wanted remained elusive escaping from the tora bora cave network but between the battle lines the violence unleashed on anniston afghans was beginning to a marriage of family homes in the chaos of war. when we're in a situation. where we're in a combat zone. unfortunately sometimes mistakes are made. and 2014 most foreign troops withdrew. into the vacuum step to result in taliban who mounted a ruthless guerrilla campaign retaking territory and stepping up its use of suicide attacks by the end this long war had left 40000 civilians dead.

after the blast it was a horrific scene many people were on the ground and i managed to get myself to the ambulance. i don't know what happened next. when the 1st hints of a truce were revealed enemy fighters on the street. after so many years of violence and vengeance. for some analysis we're joined now by delhi is pater's man who has been covering afghanistan for many years and has really grates to have you in the studio so a lot of people are referring to today's agreement between the u.s. and the taliban as a peace deal but that's not entirely accurate is it i think it's the door open that leads to the road to peace because essentially if you want a peace deal you need to have afghans talking to each other sitting with each other

and like i said this might take weeks months i would add even years because after any kind of insurgency we have seen in the past that the road to peace is long it's complicated the might be setbacks and yes we are focusing on 2 decades of war that involved the u.s. and nato troops but if you look at the gunnison as a whole we have to look at 4 decades of war and there are deep wounds on so many sides it's a really crowded bet a few of them well just looking at today's agreement it see the united states starting to withdrawing its troops from afghanistan but what sorts of guarantees is that how are the taliban offering and we can see actually the live pictures at one of the taliban representatives is addressing this ceremony as we're speaking what can we expect from the taliban side i mean the troop withdrawal which is the centerpiece of the deal signed today going to be signed today is that it's

condition based yes the u.s. and in extension nato will withdraw troops but on the other hand the taliban will have to sit down with the afghan government. they will have to sit down to mess with the future of afghanistan they have to break away from terror they have to guarantee that afghanistan will never be a safe haven for terrorist groups like al qaeda and the islamic state ever again well senator you mentioned the afghan government and and yet we do know that the government is facing a very complex political crisis are they even in a position to be able to negotiate with the taliban and from the other side are the taliban prepared to even recognize a western backed afghan government as a partner as off now no they haven't been in a position to sit down with the taliban because simply the taliban view them as a puppet regime but that will now have to change as they you know it's part of the

deal they would have to sit down with them and talk things over if they ever want to become part of a power sharing deal in afghanistan because there is a backstop you know if the taliban don't live up to their commitments not all troops will be withdrawn and there might be future estrich drone strikes all that is still a threat to the taleban but if we look at the afghan government side that is really something that is a threat to the whole process because they are at loggerheads there is a lot of infighting the election crisis hasn't been solved president hanyu wanted to be sworn in on thursday prior to this deal signing ceremony and only international pressure of preventative from doing so and to patna he wanted at the same time to call for a parallel government so who in the end is going to sit down with the taliban to you know really met with the future of afghanistan is it going to be a democracy or republic as it is now or are we returning to the islamic emirate

which is essentially still what the taliban want all very big questions that no one seems knows the answer to yet and what has struck me about today's agree. i meant is that it says the taliban should not to use afghan soil to launch attacks against u.s. interests and i mean that really struck me where does this leave ordinary people and afghanistan they after all have been the main victims of all the violence over the last 1000 years or longer and how do they feel about what's happening today i'm i'm just keep in mind the figures for the last 10 years because those are figures we have we are looking at over 100000 civilian casualties in this war so it is still one of the bloodiest wars of our lifetime in afghanistan right and when you ask people in the countryside all they care for if you check their messages if you get hold of them on the phone and ask them directly all they care for is peace

everything else comes 2nd because they essentially have been bearing the brunt you know couldn't sent their kids to school we couldn't just and there were drones circling over their heads they were threatened from all sides and they had the real victims of this war and 1st we need security and then baby later even reconciliation. pater's money always great to hear your insights thank you so much . well an entire generation was born and reached adulthood during the bloody conflict between the us led forces and taliban insurgents millions of children are deeply traumatised but with today's agreement many have fresh hope that it could offer a chance to live their lives in peace. 13 year old works as a shoeshine or instead of going to school. 11 year old son sells dried fruits and kabul streets. there are just 2 of the afghan children who've been robbed of an

education because of war. the u.s. military campaign in afghanistan has now lasted for more than 18 years years without peace for the children who were born and grew up in the country. on the stand paces like a dream to us in afghanistan. if peace comes we'll be able to rebuild our economy 3 mining for example business. which is full of. education. people are not. blaming everything on each other for many afghan children the conflict has meant destruction and poverty and the u.n. says child casualties increased sharply since 2015. that was when the taliban

started stepping up its attacks seizing territory across the country the reenergized insurgency coincided with afghan forces taking over combat duties from foreign troops afghanistan will struggle to overcome its internal divisions despite a peace deal between the u.s. and the taliban. that leaves the children whose lives have been ruined by war to face and adulthood also blighted by conflict. you're watching d.w. news a quick reminder now of our top story the united states and the taliban are poised to sign an agreement aimed at ending nearly 2 decades of conflict in afghanistan's envoys meeting until are due to him to deal with this hour which follows a year and a half of talks between the u.s. and the taliban.

you're up to date now of the w. news i'll have another update for you at the top of the hour don't forget in the meantime you can always get the latest news and information on our website just go to w dot com america hasn't seen for me in the entire team thanks for watching. because the human race to destroy so. we are bringing the basic elements of our systems. we're using much more and. more.