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Taliban leader indicates no ceasefire anytime soon
KABUL, June 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Taliban are unlikely to call a
ceasefire any time soon, the group’s leader indicated Saturday, though he
said the “doors of dialogue” with the US remain open.
The rare message from Haibatullah Akhundzada comes after a sixth round of
US-led talks ended last month in Qatar with little sign of progress and amid
continued bloodshed across Afghanistan.
“The doors of dialogue and negotiations have been kept open and at this
very moment, the (Taliban) negotiation team… is engaged in negotiations
with the American side,” Akhundzada said in a message ahead of the upcoming
festival of Eid, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the
start of Ramadan early last month, but the Taliban rejected the offer.
Last year, the Taliban observed a three-day ceasefire over Eid and many
Afghans — exhausted by decades of war and violence — had pinned their hopes
on another truce this year.
But Akhundzada said: “No one should expect us to pour cold water on the
heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching
our objectives.”
In a sign of Afghans’ frustration with their country’s seemingly unending
conflict, a group of protestors have restarted a peace march that last year
saw them walking across Afghanistan and into the capital Kabul.
Bismillah Watandost, a spokesman for the People’s Peace Movement, told AFP
on Saturday that about 30 people had started the walk late Thursday, heading
from Lashkar Gah to Musa Qala in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold.
“We will be marching 150 kilometres (93 miles). Some of our friends have
blisters on their feet from wearing old shoes,” Watandost said.
“This is our first peace march during the holy month of Ramadan, all of us
are fasting.”
He said the group aims to express to the Taliban the pain and suffering of
Afghans.
“Even if we are intimidated with death threats, we won’t care about it,”
Watandost said.
On Friday, former president Hamid Karzai mistakenly declared the Taliban
had announced a new ceasefire after hearing an old message the insurgents had
put out last year.
Karzai’s announcement unleashed a brief spell of confusion across the
country, with media outlets firing off tweets and breaking news reports
announcing the alleged truce.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1355 hrs