At the end of Ramadan, the weapons in Afghanistan are said to be silent for a few days. But there is still a long way to go before there is peace in the Hindu Kush.
Kabul (dpa) - Shortly before the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, the militant Islamist Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire for the festival Eid al-Fitr. They urged their followers not to attack the "enemy," an official statement said on Saturday.
The American Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad spoke of an "important opportunity" to boost the peace process. This opportunity should not pass up unused, he warned on Saturday on Twitter. Now the next steps would have to be taken "immediately": the release of Taliban prisoners, a reduction in violence and the termination of intra-Afghan peace negotiations.
President Aschraf Ghani also welcomed the Taliban's announcement. Ghani wrote on Twitter that he had instructed the Afghan armed forces to follow the ceasefire and only defend themselves against attacks. On Sunday, Ghani announced that his government wanted to speed up the release of Taliban prisoners. In his message to the Eid Festival, he asked the Taliban to release all of their prisoners.
In the eastern province of Laghman, four civilians were killed by mortar fire on Sunday, government officials said. Another seven were injured, a spokesman for the provincial governor said. An investigation has been launched.
The conflict in Afghanistan recently threatened to escalate after a series of attacks. After attacks on a clinic and a funeral service with dozens of deaths on May 12, Ghani had announced renewed offensives against terrorist groups. The Taliban interpreted this as a declaration of war. The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack on the maternity hospital.
On February 29, the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban to phase out international troops. The government in Kabul was not involved because the Taliban refused to speak to it directly. The agreement provides for a prisoner exchange and is intended to pave the way for peace talks. The Afghan government stopped releases in early May.
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