TALIBAN SAYS WILL RESUME OPS AGAINST AFGHAN FORCES
KABUL: A deadly blast shattered a period of relative calm in Afghanistan on Monday as the Taliban told fighters to resume operations against Afghan security forces — just days after signing a deal with Washington aimed at ushering in a new era of peace. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
KABUL: A deadly blast shattered a period of relative calm in Afghanistan on Monday, as the Taliban told fighters to resume operations against Afghan security forces -- just days after signing a deal with Washington aimed at ushering in a new era of peace.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack at a football ground in Khost in eastern Afghanistan, where three brothers were killed.
The blast occurred at around the same time the Taliban ordered fighters to start up attacks against Afghan army and police forces, bringing to an apparent end the “reduction in violence” period that had seen a dramatic drop in bloodshed.
The partial truce between the US, the Taliban and Afghan security forces lasted for the week running up to the signing of an accord between the US and the insurgents in Doha on Saturday, and was extended over the weekend. “The reduction in violence... has ended now and our operations will continue as normal,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.
“As per the (US-Taliban) agreement, our mujahideen will not attack foreign forces but our operations will continue against the Kabul administration forces.”
Taliban militants will not take part in intra-Afghan talks until about 5,000 of their prisoners are released, Zabihullah further said.
Under an accord between the United States and the Islamist Taliban signed on Saturday, the two sides are committed to working towards the release of combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure.
The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, not involved in the talks, has rejected that demand.
“We are fully ready for the intra-Afghan talks, but we are waiting for the release of our 5,000 prisoners,” Mujahid told Reuters.
Ghani said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump had not asked for the release of the prisoners and that the issue of prisoner releases should be discussed as part of a comprehensive peace deal.