Taliban announce cease-fire, stirring hope for talks

KABUL — 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 eightday cease-fire, and for the first time it promised Afghan civilians, who have borne the brunt of the 17-year conflict, a temporary reduction in violence.

The Taliban announcement came after another bloody 24 hours in Afghanistan. As many as 70 members of the Afghan security forces and pro-government militias were killed overnight in three provinces, government officials said Saturday.

A strong push is under way to restart a lackluster peace process, which has repeatedly broken down. It is underpinned both by the heavy daily toll of the long war on ordinary Afghans and President Trump’s limited patience with the costly U.S. involvement here.

Many diplomats and officials in Kabul saw the cease-fire as a small gesture of trust-building at best, and warned that it was too early to place 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 cease-fire, 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 al-Fitr 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 advisory role, with a smaller counterterrorism mission that largely focuses on remnants of al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said their announcement was not in response to the government’s declaration of cease-fire. 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.

Mujib Mashal is a New York Times writer.