Taliban Council Agrees to Temporary Afghan Ceasefire

Ceasefire could last 10 days, meant to facilitate peace deal

Following last week’s announcement that the Taliban’s Quetta Shura had agreed to a weeklong ceasefire as a way of supporting a peace deal, on Sunday the council announced they have agreed to a temporary ceasefire, potentially lasting as long as 10 days, on the same basis.

The ceasefire would begin as soon as the Taliban chief approves a peace deal. That’s likely to happen, assuming the US signs off on the deal. Reports were that the deal was effectively finished months ago, when the US abandoned talks and declared the process dead.

President Trump resumed the talks weeks ago, conditioning them on a ceasefire. Though at the time negotiators were not sure they could make that happen, they appear to have been able to get a short-term deal.

Despite several Taliban reports on the ceasefire, the US has not commented on the process in several days, and it isn’t clear where they stand on a peace deal that, once again, is waiting for them if they want to accept it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.