Afghan President Announces End of Ceasefire With Taliban

Photo from Ukrinform

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced the end of the ceasefire with Taliban, reported Reuters.

He urged the insurgents to agree to full-scale peace talks.

“The ceasefire has ended; our security and defense forces are allowed to carry out operations. It is now the Taliban’s decision, whether they want to keep killing or join the peace process,” Ghani said.

He said that the government of Afghanistan was seeking to achieve peace, but did not intend to hand over its territories to terrorists.

“I am ready to extend the ceasefire anytime when the Taliban are ready,” he said at a press conference.  

The president announced a ceasefire on June 12 that was carried out over Eid-ul-Fitr. The Taliban also called a ceasefire over Eid, but only for three days. Ghani then extended the government’s ceasefire by 10 days. However, the Taliban failed to respond and immediately after the holiday, resumed attacks across the country. 

Today’s announcement means that Afghan security forces, which have adopted largely defensive methods since Eid, can resume their normal operations against the Taliban as well as Islamic State fighters, with whom there was no ceasefire. During the ceasefire, Taliban insurgents were seen mingling with soldiers, police and civilians on the streets of Kabul and elsewhere.

The three-day truce declared by the Taliban at the end of Ramadan, was unprecedented in the nearly 17-year conflict in the country.