Taliban offer ceasefire as attacks spiral

The Taliban on Monday announced a threeday ceasefire for the Muslim holiday of Eid alFitr that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan this week.

Hours later, a roadside bomb killed 11 passengers on a bus in eastern Afghanistan — the latest in relentless violence that has gripped the country. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Responding to the ceasefire announcement, the government in Kabul — which has faced rising attacks as U.S. and NATO troops pull out of Afghanistan — called for a permanent truce. A statement from the presidential palace chastised the Taliban for the increasing violence but said the government would also observe the holiday ceasefire.

The announcement comes amid heightened violence in the country and follows a brutal attack on a girls’ school on Saturday in Kabul that killed as many 60 people, most of them students between 11 and 15 years old. The death toll from the attack still continues to climb.

The Taliban have denied responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a mostly Shiite neighborhood of DashteBarchi in western Kabul, where past attacks have been carried out by the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan.

Just hours after the Taliban announcement, a bus in southern Zabul province struck a roadside bomb, according to the Interior Ministry. The explosion killed 11 and at least 24 more people on the bus were wounded. Improvised explosive devices litter the countryside and have been used extensively by the Taliban.