NO EXCHANGE OF SWEETS AT WAGAH BORDER THIS EID

KABUL: A suicide bomber blew himself up in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday as mostly Taliban fighters gathered to celebrate a three-day cease fire marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-fitr, killing 21 people and wounding another 41, said the Nangarhar provincial Police Chief Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai.

Most of the dead and wounded were believed to be Taliban, he said. The devastating explosion came as previously unthinkable scenes of unarmed Taliban fighters celebrating Eid, often alongside Afghan security forces, played out in cities throughout the war-shattered country on Friday and again on Saturday. Within hours of the explosion President Ashraf Ghani announced he would extend a nine-day cease-fire that was to expire on Sunday and which he had unilaterally announced last week. The ceasefire was to end at the conclusion of the Eid holiday, which follows the monthlong fasting month of Ramadan.

Ghani offered no details of the extension, including how long it would be in effect. The Taliban's leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada, on Monday separately announced a three-day truce to mark the Eid holiday. The Taliban cease-fire took effect at midnight on Thursday. Ghani in his statement announcing the extension called on the Taliban to reply in kind. He also said that a cease-fire could be accompanied with visits to their prisoners and treatment for their fighters at hospitals in Afghanistan.

Ghani also repeated his promise that everything could be on the negotiation table, including the presence of foreign forces. Earlier this week Taliban leader Akhundzada said he wanted direct talks with the US before engaging in negotiations with the Afghan government. There was no immediate Taliban reply to Ghani's latest offer of an extension.

While no one has yet claimed responsibility for on Saturday's explosion in Rodat district of eastern Nangarhar province, the Islamic State affiliate, which did not sign on to the cease-fire, has a strong presence in the area. Previously, IS fighters have clashed with Taliban, who have rejected their demands for a caliphate.

Meanwhile Atta-ul-rahman Salim, deputy head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, said Taliban fighters from across the country were entering into government-controlled areas to visit their families “and they were being welcomed by government security forces.” In eastern Logar province, dozens of Taliban on motorcycles roared through the provincial capital of Pul-e-alam, some of the vehicles festooned with the Afghan flag.

Provincial police spokesman Shahpur Ahmadzai told The Associated Press that the Taliban were unarmed and no one was allowed into the city with weapons.