Taliban to suspend attacks after U.S. pledge

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

The U.S. has been conducting airstrikes in support of Afghan forces trying to repel weeklong Taliban assaults in southern Helmand province that threatened to derail efforts to end Afghanistan’s 19-year-long 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 hewas not authorized to speak to the media.

The Taliban agreed to suspend their operations after the U.S. said it 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 fromU.S. and Afghan aircraft forcing more than 5,600 families to flee their homes, seeking refuge in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah and the Nad Ali and Marja districts.

The flare-up came as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban are holding peace talks in Qatar. The negotiations, envisaged under the U.S. deal signed with the insurgents Feb. 29, are seen as the country’s best chance at peace.

In tweets Thursday, Khalilzad said he and Miller held talks with the Taliban and that after several rounds, both sides agreed to a “reset” that will result in a “reduced numbers of operations.”

“Following several meetings Gen. Miller and I had with the Taliban we agreed to reset actions by strictly adhering to implementation of all elements of the U.S.-Taliban agreement and all commitments made,” he said.