Taliban to suspend attacks

U.S. PROMISES TO HALT AIRSTRIKES, NIGHT RAIDS

The Taliban said on Friday they have agreed to suspend attacks in southern Afghanistan that have displaced thousands this week — but only after the Americans promised to halt all strikes and night raids in keeping with the peace agreement the U.S. signed with the insurgents in February.

The U.S. has been conducting air strikes in support of Afghan forces trying to repel week-long Taliban assaults in southern Helmand province that threatened to derail efforts to end Afghanistan’s 19-year war.

The Taliban pledge came after a meeting with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. Austin Miller, commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a Taliban figure familiar with the discussions said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The Taliban agreed to suspend their operations after the Americans said they would end drone strikes on insurgent positions, as well as night raids and air assaults, the Taliban figure said.

Helmand has been the scene of a blistering Taliban assault since last week, with rocket attacks from the Taliban and retaliatory airstrikes from U.S. and Afghan aircraft forcing more than 5,600 families to flee their homes, seeking refuge in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah and Nad Ali and Marja districts.

Over the past few years, a resurgent Taliban have gained control of roughly 80 per cent of the province, mainly the rural areas, while the district centres are still under government control.

The flareup came even as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban are holding peace talks in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar, where the Taliban have for years maintained a political office. The negotiations, envisaged under a U.S. deal signed with the insurgents on Feb. 29, are seen as the country’s best chance at peace.

In a series of tweets Thursday, Khalilzad said he and Gen. Austin Miller, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, held talks with the Taliban and then, after several rounds, he said both sides agreed to a “reset” which will result in a “reduced numbers of operations.”

“Following several meetings Gen. Miller and I had with the Taliban we agreed to re-set actions by strictly adhering to implementation of all elements of the U.S.-Taliban agreement and all commitments made,” he said. The negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators began in September but after a ceremonious start became bogged down.