What were the key dates and deadlines in the 2020 Doha Agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban?
Executive summary
The Doha “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” was signed on 29 February 2020 and set a schedule for a phased U.S. troop withdrawal and for intra‑Afghan talks to begin on 10 March 2020 (signing date and commencement date cited in the text) while also calling for the start of intra‑Afghan negotiations shortly thereafter; by its terms the U.S. committed to a phased reduction and full withdrawal within 14 months, with an initial drawdown of forces within 135 days [1] [2] [3]. The agreement’s calendar and conditions — withdrawal timelines, prisoner exchanges, and a March start for Afghan‑to‑Afghan talks — are repeatedly cited by analysts as central causes of the political and military outcomes that followed [4] [5].
1. The signing: a date that became a deadline
The core pact was signed in Doha on 29 February 2020 by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar; that ceremony formally set the agreement’s clock in motion [1] [6] [7]. Multiple contemporary accounts and later analyses repeat that February 29 was the legal hinge of the deal and the source date for the deadlines the text then created [2] [8].
2. The 10 March 2020 intra‑Afghan talks start date written into the text
The agreement explicitly envisaged that intra‑Afghan negotiations between the Taliban and “other Afghan sides” would begin on 10 March 2020; that date was the operative trigger for the political track the U.S.‑Taliban deal aimed to produce [2] [3]. Reporting and legal readings note that this March commencement was central to the pact’s logic — the military timetable was linked to progress on Afghan‑to‑Afghan talks [3] [2].
3. The 135‑day initial drawdown and base closures
The U.S. agreed to an initial reduction of forces from roughly 13,000 to about 8,600 within 135 days of the agreement, and to close five bases in that same 135‑day window (these specific numbers and the 135‑day term appear in descriptive summaries of the accord) [1]. Analysts and military officials later identified this near‑term drawdown as a material factor shaping Afghan perceptions and battlefield dynamics [4] [9].
4. The 14‑month full withdrawal timetable
The agreement committed to a complete withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces within 14 months of signing — a date‑certain ceiling that, in practice, was interpreted as the ultimate deadline for foreign military presence under the accord [1] [4] [10]. Public reporting notes that while President Biden later adjusted the specific exit date, the Doha text’s 14‑month frame was the explicit contractual timeframe the U.S. signed up to [4] [11].
5. Prisoner exchange and intra‑Afghan sequencing as conditional deadlines
The deal required the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the Taliban to free 1,000 prisoners as part of the conditions for starting intra‑Afghan talks; the prisoner releases and their timing were treated as preconditions to the March‑10 talks and therefore functioned as additional deadlines [1] [3]. Delays and disputes over prisoner lists and releases were repeatedly cited in sources as reasons the intra‑Afghan timeline slipped [3] [1].
6. Other calendar markers and diplomatic follow‑ups
The accord also referenced other near‑term actions — for example, reductions in sanctions and intent to end certain counterterrorism operations — tied to the same early windows; observers emphasize these items were meant to accompany the 135‑day and 14‑month schedules, though precise dates for each ancillary action vary in reporting [1] [10]. Sources note follow‑up documents — such as a Joint Declaration between the U.S. and the Afghan government signed the same day — that complicated implementation because they contained different commitments and actors [2].
7. How analysts tie the calendar to the collapse of Kabul
Multiple analysts and U.S. officials later argued the date‑certain withdrawal and the suspension of some U.S. kinetic activities materially strengthened the Taliban and undercut Afghan forces’ morale; U.S. military testimony and post‑withdrawal reviews point to the Doha timetable as a causal element in the rapid collapse of the Afghan government in 2021 [4] [5]. Other observers stress implementation failures and delays in starting intra‑Afghan talks (including controversy over prisoner releases) undermined the agreement’s political track [3] [12].
Limitations and missing details: available sources do not mention the verbatim clause language for every deadline or a full list of named dates beyond those cited above; they also show variation in how the 14‑month end date was later adjusted in U.S. policy, with some sources noting President Biden set an alternate exit date while others focus strictly on the original Doha text [4] [11].