Taliban, Ghani declare three-day cease fire for Eid holiday
Source: AP
By KATHY GANNON
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban and Afghanistan’s president announced late Saturday a three-day cease-fire ahead of a major Islamic holiday that begins Sunday to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
The Taliban order, which was soon followed by an announcement via Twitter from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announcing the government “extends the offer of peace,” comes just days after U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul and Doha.
Khalilzad on his trip urged both the Taliban and the Afghan government to reduce violence and move ahead with intra-Afghan negotiations, a key pillar of a U.S. peace deal with the Taliban signed in February to allow American troops to leave Afghanistan. The deal was also touted at the time as Afghanistan’s best chance for peace after nearly four decades of war.
The Taliban’s cease-fire announcement follows an Eid al-Fitr message from the Taliban leader which said the insurgent group was committed to the peace deal, was not seeking to monopolize power and promised to guarantee the rights of women and men under an Islamic system.
FILE - In this March 9, 2020, file photo, Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad attends the inauguration ceremony for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Khalilzad said May 7 that he called for the release of Mark R. Frerichs, ab American citizen captured by Taliban-linked militants in discussions with Taliban leadership as continued violence threatens to scuttle a peace deal to end America’s longest-running war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
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