Fighting resumes in Afghanistan as ceasefire ends

Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces resumed yesterday in the restive southern province of Helmand, officials said, ending a three-day ceasefire agreed by the warring sides to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Violence has soared as the US military presses ahead with a plan to withdraw all of its troops by September, bringing an end to a 20-year war in Afghanistan.

“The fighting is still ongoing,”

Attaullah Afghan, head of the Helmand provincial council, told AFP as a three-day temporary truce ended on Saturday.

He said Taliban fighters attacked security checkpoints on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, and some other districts.

An Afghan army spokesman in the south confirmed fighting had resumed, and the Helmand governor’s office said that 21 Taliban fighters had been killed so far.

“They (Afghan forces) started the operation ... do not put the blame on us,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP.

Washington has vowed to end America’s longest war but missed a May 1 deadline to pull out, as agreed with the Taliban last year in return for security guarantees and a promise to launch talks with the Afghan government.

President Joe Biden pushed back the date to Sept 11 – exactly two decades after the terrorist attacks in the United States which led

Washington to invade Afghanistan and oust the Taliban.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been killed and millions have since been displaced by the conflict, which has seen a resurgent Taliban take hold of large swathes of the country.

Nishank Motwani, an Afghanistan expert based in Australia, said the Taliban viewed the American withdrawal as a win.

“It gives the insurgents a proclamation of victory, bookends their removal and eventual return to power, and signals that the end is in sight for the Afghan republic in its current state,” he said.

Government forces have continued to receive vital air support from US warplanes, and there are concerns over whether they would be able to hold back the insurgents without Washington’s help.

“It is now going to be very difficult for us to conduct operations,” an Afghan army officer told AFP.

“Our aircraft can’t fly at night.” – AFP