BFF-13 Taliban say ceasefire will not be extended, fighting to resume

555

ZCZC

BFF-13

AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-CEASEFIRE

Taliban say ceasefire will not be extended, fighting to resume

KABUL, June 17, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Taliban said Sunday they would not
extend their three-day ceasefire with Afghan security forces and fighting
would resume, dashing hopes for the recent peace to continue.

The comments by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid come after Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani announced Saturday a government truce with the
militants would be extended. He asked the group to reciprocate.

“The ceasefire ends tonight and our operations will begin, inshallah. We
have no intention to extend the ceasefire,” Mujahid told AFP in a WhatsApp
message.

Mujahid made no reference to Ghani’s announcement.

The first formal, nationwide ceasefire since the 2001 US invasion had been
met with jubilation across the country as Afghans — Taliban, security forces
and civilians — celebrated Eid, the holiday that caps the fasting month of
Ramadan.

Taliban fighters and security forces embraced and took selfies with each
other over the first two days of the Muslim holiday.

Civilians also flocked to greet the militants, who had left their posts or
areas under their control to celebrate the halt in hostilities, which had
fuelled hopes among war-weary Afghans that peace was possible.

The extraordinary festivities were marred by a suicide attack in the
eastern province of Nangarhar on Saturday that was later claimed by the
Islamic State group’s franchise in Afghanistan. IS was not included in the
government’s ceasefire.

The death toll from the blast has risen to 36, with another 65 wounded,
Nangarhar health director Najibullah Kamawal told AFP on Sunday, after a
number of people with critical injuries died overnight.

– No surprises –

Ghani’s extension of the government’s eight-day ceasefire, which had been
due to expire Tuesday night, drew immediate international support and calls
for the Taliban to follow suit.

The Taliban had agreed to a truce but only for the first three days of Eid,
which started Friday, promising not to attack Afghan soldiers or police. They
would, however, continue attacking US-led NATO troops.

With the ceasefire due to end Sunday night, fighting is likely to resume on
Monday.

Before the Taliban’s ceasefire had even started, analysts had expressed
cautious optimism that the truces, if successful, could help build trust
between the government and the Taliban and lay the groundwork for peace
talks.

But it was clear on Sunday that not everyone in the Taliban approved of the
bonhomie between the group’s fighters and security forces.

The Taliban ordered its fighters to avoid gatherings of security forces and
civilians, ostensibly to avoid further civilian casualties, following
Saturday’s suicide attack.

“The enemy has misused the ceasefire issue and there is a chance of more
such bad incidents happening,” Mujahid said in an earlier message.

But some Taliban commanders also told AFP they disapproved of their
fighters visiting government-controlled areas and celebrating with security
forces.

The Taliban’s decision to resume fighting came as no surprise to several
Western diplomats in Kabul.

“If they extend the ceasefire they will be compelled to talk, which I think
the Taliban isn’t interested in. They’re looking for an outright victory,”
one diplomat told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

BSS/AFP/ARS/1803 hrs