Taliban, Afghan govt declare 3-day ceasefire for Eid; US peace envoy calls it 'momentous'

Extremist group Taliban and Afghan government have announced a three-day Eid ceasefire starting from May 24 to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramzan. The joint move came amid an escalation of armed conflicts between both sides despite the ‘momentous’ signing of US-Taliban peace deal which was expected to pave the way for a dialogue between Taliban and the Afghan government. The insurgent group’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had made the announcement on Twitter called for ‘offensive operations’ to be stopped ‘solely’ for Eid festivities.

Even though the troops on both sides were expected to cease war during the ‘violence reduction’ period after the peace agreement involving the US, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has welcomed the Taliban announcement. He took to Twitter and said that as the Commander-in-Chief of the army he has instructed them to ‘defend only if attacked’. This comes after the Taliban rejected the Afghan government’s call for a ceasefire for Ramzan and called it ‘not rational’. 

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'Momentous opportunity'

This is only the second time that both sides have agreed to not carry out any attacks and maintain a temporary truce since 2001. The United States peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reportedly had travelled to Kabul and Doha just days before the three-day ceasefire was announced. He has welcomed the declaration as “momentous opportunity”. Earlier, Khalilzad reportedly had urged both the Taliban and Afghanistan government to refrain from violence and move ahead with the peace negotiations.

According to an international news agency, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s main intelligence and security office in Kabul Javid Faisal said on May 23 that at least 146 civilians have been killed during Ramadan and 430 were injured as Taliban ramped-up its attacks. Moreover, since the United States invaded the ongoing conflict in 2001, there has only been one other ceasefire announcement in 2018 between Taliban and Afghan government for the religious festival, Eid.

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Image Source: AP