Afghanistan waits for Taliban response to truce offer

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KABUL, Aug 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Afghanistan was waiting Monday for a
Taliban response to President Ashraf Ghani’s suggestion of a three-month
ceasefire, an offer welcomed by the United States and NATO after 17 years of
war.

Ghani unveiled the government’s latest gambit during an Independence Day
address late Sunday, saying security forces would observe the truce beginning
this week — but only if the Taliban reciprocated.

The move followed an extraordinarily violent week in Afghanistan that saw
that Taliban storm the provincial capital of Ghazni — just a two hour drive
from Kabul — and press the fight against security forces across the country,
resulting in hundreds of deaths.

The president said his office had cleared “all obstacles” to peace with the
announcement following consultations with religious scholars, political
parties and civil society groups.

The proposal was warmly greeted by both NATO and the US, with Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo calling on the Taliban to participate.

The Taliban did not immediately respond to Ghani’s proposal but vowed to
release hundreds of “enemy prisoners” to mark the Islamic Eid al-Adha holiday
that starts this week.

Analysts said the government’s move belied the desperation after recent
heavy bloodshed.

“After Ghazni City and everything else, this looks really desperate,”
tweeted Bill Roggio, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies.

If the militants accede to the ceasefire, it would be just the second
nation-wide truce since the US-led invasion in 2001 that toppled the Taliban
regime.

The first, in June, saw thousands of insurgents pour into cities across
Afghanistan, eating ice cream and posing for selfies with security forces to
celebrate.

The brief respite observed by both sides spurred hopes that a new path was
opening for possible peace talks in the country to the end the nearly 17-
year-old war.