News that the White House had ordered the Pentagon to withdraw half of US troops in Afghanistan provoked widespread concern that the move would kneecap efforts to broker a peace deal to end America’s longest war, but one group was celebrating the reports — the Taliban.

One senior Taliban commander from Afghanistan’s Helmand province said “The 17-year-long struggle and sacrifices of thousands of our people finally yielded fruit,” and also that “We proved it to the entire world that we defeated the self-proclaimed world’s lone super power.”

So far, the U.S.’s military campaign, along with billions in aid, have not succeeded in driving out the Taliban and other militants or making the country safe.

Despite years of fighting, only around 65 percent of the Afghan population lives in areas under government control but that area still experiences severe Taliban attacks and terror bombings.

The Taliban sheltered 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and the militants have been trying to unseat the U.S.-backed government in Kabul and reimpose their strict version of Shariah.

The news of the US troop withdrawal was shocking because at the moment the United States is engaged in a major diplomatic push to try to launch peace negotiations. One official said, “The abruptness of this I think really hurts our credibility.”

Now it will be a challenge how the U.S. is going to get the Taliban to reach an agreement if they can wait and expect a better outcome in the future if the U.S. continues to withdraw its forces.

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