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The Taliban announcement came two days after a blast at a Kabul girls ’school killed more than 50 people, mostly students.
The Taliban has called for a three-day ceasefire across Afghanistan over this week’s Eid al-Fitr holiday, more than 50 days – mostly young girls – two days after a bomb blast outside a school in the capital Kabul.
“The Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate is ordered to cease all attacks on the enemy throughout the country from the first to the third day of Eide,” the Taliban said in a statement released on Monday.
“But if the enemy makes an attack or assault on you during these days, you are ready to protect and defend yourself and your territory firmly,” he added.
Announcement of a ceasefire 20 years after the United States invaded the country and removed the Taliban from power, the last 2,500 troops continue to withdraw. It seems that US-led peacekeeping efforts have diminished as talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have barely progressed.
Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim fast of Ramadan, which marks the beginning of seeing the new moon. The Taliban declared similar ceasefires last year for Muslim holidays.
The government is usually giving a truce, and Fraidon Khawzon – spokesman for chief negotiator Abdullah Abdullah – said early Monday: “We are pleased with the announcement … the Islamic Republic is also ready and will announce it soon.”
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said on Monday that at least 11 people had been killed in a bus explosion in Zabul province just hours before the Taliban ceasefire was announced.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told reporters that at least 28 people were injured in Monday’s Zabul bus explosion.
National mourning
The latest offer was blamed on the government by the Taliban on Saturday in Dasht-e-Barchi, in front of a girls ’school, after they were accused of attacking the Hazara community in a suburb of the capital.
Some out-of-school explosions – while shopping before the holidays – killed more than 50 people and injured more than 100.
It was the most serious attack in more than a year.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Tuesday is a day of national mourning.
“This savage group does not have the power to fight the security forces of the war, and instead targets the public facilities and the girls’ school with savagery and savagery, ”she said in a statement.
The Taliban, who denied responsibility, earlier issued a statement saying the nation needed to “take care and take care of education centers and institutions”.
On Sunday, relatives buried the dead on a hill known as the “Martyrs’ Cemetery, ”where they mourn the victims of attacks on the Hazara community.
The Hazaras are historically Shiite Muslims who have historically suffered persecution in 38 million countries.
The bodies in the wooden coffins were lowered one by one to the graves in a state of still shock and fear, the photographer for the AFP news agency said.
“I went on stage [after the blasts] and I found myself in the middle of my body, with my hands and head cut off and my bones broken, ”said Mohammad Taqi, a neighbor of Dasht-e-Barchi, whose two daughters were students at the school but escaped the attack.
“They were all girls. Their bodies were piled on top of each other. ‘
Victims ’books and school bags were still scattered at the scene of the attack.
The Taliban have denied that the Kabul bombings took place since February last year when negotiators signed an agreement with Washington to pave the way for peace talks and the withdrawal of other U.S. troops.
The Taliban has clashed daily with Afghan forces in the rugged countryside, even as the U.S. military has reduced its presence.
The Taliban leader has warned the US
The U.S. was supposed to pull out all its forces by May 1 last year in line with what the Taliban had agreed to, but Washington postponed the date to Sept. 11 – a move that angered the armed group.
Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhunzada has confirmed in a message released before Eid that the delay in withdrawing troops is a “violation” of that agreement.
“If America fails to meet its commitments again, then the world must be a witness and hold America accountable for all the consequences,” Akhunzada warned in a message on Sunday.
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