Afghan president announces week-long ceasefire with Taleban
Afghan president Ashraf Ghani has announced a week-long ceasefire with the Taleban to coincide with the holiday marking the end of Ramadan next week.
A statement sent from the president’s office yesterday said the ceasefire will begin on 27 Ramadan – or 12 June in the Western calendar – and last through the Eid al-fitr holiday, until about 19 June.
Thestatementsaidtheceasefire does not include al-qaeda or the Islamic State (IS) group.
There was no immediate comment from the Taleban, who have steadily expanded their presence in recent years, capturing a number of districts across the country and carrying out near-daily attacks, mainly targeting Afghan security forces.
Mr Ghani’s statement referred to a gathering of Afghanistan’s top clerics on Monday in which they issued a decree against suicide attacks and called for peace talks.
A suicide bomber struck just outside the gathering as it was dispersing, killing at least seven people and wounding 20 in an attack claimed by IS.
The Taleban 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”.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said America welcomed the ceasefire and that it indicates the Afghan government’s commitment to try to end the conflict.
Mr Pompeo said: “The United States and our international partners look to the Taleban to honour the ceasefire and demonstrate their respect for the people of Afghanistan who have long called for a reprieve to the Taleban’s campaign of violence.”
US forces said that they too would observe the ceasefire with the Taleban, but that it would not affect their counter-terrorism efforts against groups such as IS and al-qaeda.
“We will adhere to the wishes of Afghanistan for the country to enjoy a peaceful end to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, and support the search for an end to the conflict,” said General John Nicholson, US commander in Afghanistan and head of the Nato-led Resolute Support training mission.
“President Ghani’s peace offer was universally supported by the international community and the ceasefire represents another bold initiative for peace and is for the benefit of all Afghans,” Gen Nicholson added.
The US and Nato formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but the US still has thousands of forces based there in a support and counter-terrorism role. The Trump administrationhassentadditionaltroops to try to change the course of America’s longest war.