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Taliban agrees to ceasefire with Afghan forces for Eid
KABUL, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Taliban announced Saturday a three-day
ceasefire with Afghan security forces for Eid, the holiday that caps off
Ramadan, though it said operations against “foreign occupiers” would
continue.
But the group warned its fighters would “strongly defend” themselves if
attacked, according to a statement sent to the media two days after the
Afghan government announced a week-long ceasefire.
“All the mujahideen are directed to stop offensive operations against
Afghan forces for the first three days of Eid-al-Fitr,” the Taliban said in a
WhatsApp message.
“But if the mujahideen are attacked we will strongly defend (ourselves).”
The Taliban added that “foreign occupiers are the exception” to the order
sent to its fighters.
“Our operations will continue against them, we will attack them wherever
we see them,” it said.
It was the first time the Taliban had agreed to a ceasefire for Eid since
the US invasion in 2001.
The announcement came after President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday declared an
apparently unilateral week-long ceasefire with the Taliban.
It would last “from the 27th of Ramadan until the fifth day of Eid-al-
Fitr”, Ghani tweeted from an official account, indicating it could run from
June 12-19.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1050 hrs