Afghan leader offers Taliban three-month conditional cease-fire

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Sunday afternoon that his government is offering a three-month cease-fire to the Taliban insurgents.

In a televised address marking the 99th anniversary of Afghanistan’s independence, Ghani called on Taliban leaders to “welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long-lasting and real peace” and urged them to prepare for peace talks.

Ghani said the cease-fire would be observed today and Tuesday, the Eid holidays, but that he hoped extensions could also be agreed upon to make it last until November, when Muslims mark the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.

But Ghani said the truce is conditional and will depend on whether “the Taliban reciprocate.”

“The cease-fire should be observed from both sides, and its continuation and duration also depend on the Taliban’s stand,” Ghani said.

There was no immediate response from the Taliban about a new cease-fire, but Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said Sunday that the group had identified hundreds of prisoners that it wants the government to release today so that “they can share the happiness of Eid with their families and friends.”

Release of such prisoners has been a Taliban condition for another cease-fire.

The Taliban have staged numerous violent attacks across the country in the past two weeks. The most deadly was a ground assault on the city of Ghazni, which killed at least 100 members of the Afghan security forces and 35 civilians, according

to Afghan officials. Fighting raged for days until U.S. air- strikes and Afghan reinforcements finally drove out hundreds of insurgents.

At the same time, the group has been actively seeking for weeks to court Afghan civilians, promising last month to halt suicide bombings in civilian areas and announcing on Twitter and other social networks that those who surrendered would not be harmed.

Before the Ghazni attack, there were rising hopes for a repeat of a successful threeday truce in June, during which insurgent fighters joined civilians and government troops to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Ghani had proposed extending that cease-fire, but the Taliban did not respond.

Many Afghans had predicted that the spate of recent attacks would force Ghani to abort plans to announce a new cease-fire during this week’s holidays.

Some observers, though, said they thought the Ghazni attack was not intended to sabotage peace talks but was meant to give the insurgents an advantage at the negotiating table. In comments earlier this month, Defense Secretary James Mattis suggested that the attack was an effort to “up the ante” in negotiations.

Ghani said Sunday that numerous segments of Afghan society — including Muslim scholars and clerics, political parties, civic groups and members of the government High Peace Council — have called for an end to the bloodshed and for a negotiated settlement to the conflict.

He asked the insurgents to be ready for talks that would be “based on Islamic values and principles.”

Taliban leaders have long insisted that they will negotiate only with American officials, not with Afghans.

Ghani’s announcement came a day after the leader of the Afghan Taliban said there will be no peace in Afghanistan as long as the “foreign occupation” continues, reiterating the group’s position that the country’s 17-year war can only be brought to an end through direct talks with the U.S.

Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzadah said Saturday that the group remains committed to “Islamic goals,” the sovereignty of Afghanistan and ending the war.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Sunday that he welcomed the Afghan government’s proposal.

“The last cease-fire in Afghanistan revealed the deep desire of the Afghan people to end the conflict, and we hope another cease-fire will move the country closer to sustainable security,” Pompeo said.

He added that the United States is ready to support and participate in negotiations. “There are no obstacles to talks,” he said. “It is time for peace.”

The Pakistani government issued a statement Sunday welcoming the announcement from neighboring Afghanistan and saying it “fully supports all such efforts.”

Pakistan called on all parties in the conflict to “make a

commitment to a cease-fire” similar to the one in June, and it urged that this time the truce be extended.

Pakistan has been accused by Afghan and U.S. officials of sheltering militant groups that attack Afghanistan. After the Ghazni attack, some Afghan officials, including Ghani, alleged that Pakistani fighters had taken part in the battle and that some of their dead or wounded victims had been clandestinely returned to Pakistan.

Military officials in Pakistan denied the accusations, saying they did not support or have ties with anti-Afghan militant groups. They suggested instead that some Pakistani laborers in the border region might have gotten caught up in the violence and possibly been wounded or killed.