WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump`s declaration that he has already withdrawn almost half of his troops from Afghanistan led to another surprise announcement on Tuesday that an all-Afghan peace summit will be held in Qatar on July 7 and 8.

Germany`sspecialrepresentative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Markus Potzel said in a statement on Tuesday that Germany and Qatar were co-sponsoring the talks and invitations had also been jointly issued by the two hosts.

In another statement, the US State Department said that despite recent terrorist attacks in Kabul, `we remain commit ted to the Afghan peace process` President Trump told a Fox News talleshow on Monday night that he has already `reduced the force very substantially in Afghanistan`, but does `not talk about (it) very much` The US leader then explained how many troops he had withdrawn so far.

`We were at 16,000. We`re down to about 9,000, which a lot of people don`t know,` he said.

Mr Trump said he `would like to just get out`, but could not because Afghanistan was a `labfor terrorists`. Pointing out that the 9/11 hijackers were trained in Afghanistan, he added: `I call it the Harvard of terrorists.

Mr Trump disagreed with the suggestion that the United States should continue to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan to maintain peace and security in the war-ravaged country.

The United States, he said, should avoid being the `policeman for the whole world` because no other country was doing so.

`If you look at Russia, Russia doesn`t police the world, they police Russia. You look at China, they don`t have troops everywhere,` he added.

To prevent Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist hub onceagain, Mr Trump`s proposal was to leave behind a `very strong intelligence` presence in the country.

The Washington Post noted on Tuesday that the pullout was to be announced as part of a timeframe being negotiated by Washington`s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

But Mr Trump`s announcement `accelerated the expected timeframe ahead of an allAfghan peace summit planned for July 7-8 in Qatar,` the newspaper added.

A report in The New York Times noted that the proposed allAfghan meeting will be held on Taliban terms as there will be no official Afghan government representation.Germany`s Special Envoy Potzel, while confirming the dates for the all-Afghan peace summit, said the Afghan government will not participate.

He also clarified that all delegates `will participate only in their personal capacity and on an equal footing` The Taliban have refused to meet Aghan government representatives but appear willing to `talk to anyone as ordinary Afghans`. It`s not yet clear if Aghan government officials could also participate in their personalcapacities.The Taliban have already met prominent Afghans, including former President Hamid Karzai, twice.

The all-Afghan talks were announced a day after the Taliban claimed responsibilityfor an attack in Kabul that killed at least six people and wounded more than 100 others, including 50 schoolchildren.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday that the attack showed the Taliban `wanted to continue this war` and were not intereste d in peace.

However, Ambassador Khalilzad, who is leading the US team at the Doha tall(s with the Taliban, welcomed the allAfghan peace meeting in tweets released on Tuesday.

`I want to thank Germany & Qatar for agreeing to host the upcoming July 7-8 intra-Afghan Dialogue Conference,` he wrote.

`Mutual acceptance, seeking consensus, and agreeing to resolve political differences without force is what is neededto learn from the tragedy of the last 40 years. I wish participants success.

In Washington, the US State Department issued a statement, strongly condemning Monday`s terrorist attacks in Kabul and commending the Afghan security forces for their swift response to preventfurtherloss of life.

`We call on the Taliban to stop attacking civilians. Afghans yearnfor peace and deserve an end to these senseless acts of violence,` the statement added.

The State Department also said that the attack `serves as a stark reminder of what is at stake in the peace process and why we remain committed to helping those Afghans who seek a peaceful future for their country`.