Taliban announce brief ceasefire, giving hope for lull in war
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN— In a move that could inject life into a longstruggling Afghan peace process, the Taliban announced Saturday that they would halt operations against Afghan forces for the three days of the Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr. Their announcement came days after the Afghan government declared a unilateral eight-day ceasefire, and for the first time it promised Afghan civilians, who have borne the brunt of the 17-year conflict, a temporary reduction in violence, which has only been getting worse in recent years.
The Taliban announcement came after another bloody night in Afghanistan. In three provinces, more than 50 members of the Afghan security forces and pro-government militias were killed overnight, government officials said Saturday.
A strong push is underway to restart a lacklustre peace process, which has repeatedly broken down. It is underpinned both by the heavy daily toll of the long war on ordinary Af- ghans and U.S. President Donald Trump’s limited patience for the costly U.S. involvement here.
Many diplomats and officials in Kabul saw the ceasefire as a small gesture of trust-building at best, and warned that it was too early to pin too much hope on it as some of the most basic questions about a concrete peace process remained unresolved.
Although the Taliban statement did not acknowledge the government ceasefire, the moves by the two sides would overlap for three days.
For the festival, Taliban fighters “are instructed to stop their offensive operations against domestic opposition,” the militant group’s statement said, referring to Afghan forces. Eid alFitr celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan and begins June 16.
The Taliban statement said international forces in the U.S.led NATO coalition would still be the target of attacks. But the movement of international forces has been limited in recent years under a curtailed ad- visory role, with a smaller counterterrorism mission that largely focuses on remnants of Al Qaeda and Daesh.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said their announcement was not in response to the government’s declaration of ceasefire. In past years, Mujahid said, the Taliban have instructed their fighters to abstain from attacks; but they could not announce that publicly out of fear that the government and the U.S. military would take advantage of it and amplify attacks.