Afghan cease-fire for Ramadaan

KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced a weeklong cease-fire with the Taliban to coincide with the holiday marking the end of Ramadaan next week.

He said yesterday that the ceasefire will begin on 27 Ramadaan, or June 12 on the Western calendar, and last through the Eid al-Fitr holiday, until around June 19. The cease-fire does not include al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group.

There was no immediate comment from the Taliban, who has expanded its presence in recent years, capturing districts across the country and carrying out near-daily attacks, mainly targeting Afghan security forces.

General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali, the army chief of staff, said Afghan forces would be on standby throughout the cease-fire and respond to any attacks. The army would continue to battle “international terrorists”, he said, apparently referring to al-Qaeda and IS.

Ghani’s statement referred to a gathering of Afghanistan’s top clerics on Monday who issued a decree (fatwa) against suicide attacks and called for peace talks. A suicide bomber struck just as the gathering was dispersing, killing at least seven people and wounding 20 in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

The Taliban had denounced the gathering, insisting that its jihad, or holy war, against foreign invaders was justified. It instead urged the clerics to side with it against the “occupation.”

On Wednesday, the Taliban attacked a police post in the eastern Ghazni province, killing three police and wounding five others.

In the eastern Khost province, a drive-by shooting at a mosque on Wednesday killed four people and wounded 15. No one immediately claimed the shooting, and it was not clear who the target was. – AP