combat operations, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant–Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) and al-Qaeda activities in Afghanistan, through partnered operations with Afghan forces, as well as unilateral operations. (5) Responding to the only Article V invocation in NATO’s history, 17,000 service members from 39 countries currently operate in Afghanistan, including approximately 12,000 United States forces. (6) Afghan security forces have reportedly lost more than 45,000 soldiers in battle since 2014. (7) In September 2018, the Department of State appointed former Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad as the United States Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation (SRAR). (8) The NATO Mission Commander, United States Army General Austin Scott Miller stated in October 2018, This [war in Afghanistan] is not going to be won militarily … This is going to be a political solution. (9) In October 2018, the Government of Pakistan released Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the co-founders of the Taliban, whom Pakistani authorities had arrested in Karachi in 2010. In January 2019, Mr. Baradar was appointed as the head of the Taliban’s political office in Qatar to lead peace talks with the United States. (10) SRAR Khalilzad announced on Twitter on March 12, 2019, after peace talks with Taliban officials, a four-pronged framework for peace in Afghanistan: counter-terrorism assurances, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan dialogue, and a comprehensive ceasefire. He noted that in January 2019, he and the Taliban agreed in principle on the four elements, and that the two sides had agreed in draft on the first two elements during the March 2019 talks. He stated, When the agreement in draft about a withdrawal timeline and effective counterterrorism measures is finalized, the Taliban and other Afghans, including the government, will begin intra-Afghan negotiations on a political settlement and comprehensive ceasefire … and there is no final agreement until everything is agreed . (11) On April 26, 2019, the United States