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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Taliban refuse to extend ceasefire

By Mushtaq Yusufzai
June 19, 2018

PESHAWAR: Contrary to the expectations of Afghan government, the Afghan Taliban refused to extend their three-day ceasefire that ended on Sunday night.

Taliban had announced the three-day ceasefire for Eidul Fitr. They have vowed to resume their operations against the US-led Nato forces and Afghan government. The Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid officially announced an end to the three-day ceasefire and claimed their operations would resume from Sunday night. "The Taliban leadership has directed all the mujahideen to return to their camps and resume jihadi operations as per their plans against the US-led foreign forces and their Afghan supporters,” the spokesman said. He said the ceasefire was announced to enable the Afghan people to peacefully celebrate Eidul Fitr.

The Afghan government expected Taliban would extend the ceasefire.

Some of the media organisations even reported that Taliban had extended the ceasefire. The Taliban leadership immediately intervened and denied the media reports. It was the first time in Taliban's 17 years long war that they announced a ceasefire. It was meant only for the Afghan forces and was for a short period of time. Taliban had pledged to continue attacks against foreign forces.

Afghan President Dr Ashraf Ghani had announced the original ceasefire for a week covering the last days of Ramazan and also Eid and then extended it for 10 more days. The ceasefire didn’t include al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and the US too made it clear operations against these groups would continue.

According to the sources, most members of Taliban’s leadership council and field commanders were in favour of continuing their "jihad" foreign forces and their Afghan allies.

While Taliban have been fighting the US-backed Afghan government since being ousted from power in 2001, they steadily expanded their presence in the country in recent years, capturing a number of districts. They carry out near daily attacks, mainly targeting Afghan security forces post-2014 when bulk of the foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan.

The US and Nato formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but the U.S. still has thousands of forces based there in a support and counterterrorism role. The Trump administration has sent additional troops to try to change the course of America's longest war.

The Taliban spokesman said through their ceasefire they also wanted to prove that Taliban were free in making important decisions and they don't accept dictations from external forces.

Meanwhile, senior members of the Afghan Taliban said there was "unprecedented" pressure on them from different countries including Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar to extend the ceasefire and hold peace talks with the Afghan government. "The majority of people in our leadership council were not in favour of ceasefire but our people in the Qatar office were kept under pressure by different world powers. The Qatar office convinced our top leadership to announce the ceasefire," he said.

He said some regional powers particularly Pakistan, China, UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia persuaded the Taliban leadership to agree to the ceasefire.

According to sources close to the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan also wanted Taliban to include the US and Nato forces in the ceasefire, but the Taliban leadership and their supreme leader ?Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada didn't agree with the proposal. They said that some members of the Taliban seen taking selfies with the Afghan government officials have been warned of strict action.

"Our senior leadership held an emergency meeting last night and strictly advised all the field commanders to take action against fighters who visited cities and took pictures with the Afghan officials. The Afghan government misused this opportunity for self-projection and tried to create an impression as if the Taliban had been divided," said the Taliban member.

According to Taliban leadership, their previous message about the ceasefire was not properly conveyed to the people in the field which created some problems and their people in remote areas felt as if they were free to do anything.

A Taliban commander, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some attacks had been planned in Helmand and they may resume their operations from this province.

AFP adds: A suicide attack in the restive eastern part of the country on Sunday killed at least 18 people in a crowd celebrating the Muslim holiday, the second assault in as many days to mar the unprecedented ceasefire.

The Islamic State group, which was not part of the truce, claimed it had carried out its second suicide attack in two days in Jalalabad in the province of Nangarhar.

Provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal put the toll from Sunday´s blast in Jalalabad city, outside the office of the Nangarhar provincial governor, at 18 dead and 49 wounded. "Some of the wounded are in a serious condition," Kamawal added, suggesting the death toll could rise.

The governor´s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, put the death toll slightly higher at 19. He said a bomber on foot blew himself up among a crowd of Taliban fighters, local elders and civilians leaving the governor´s compound after attending a special event for Eid.