Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced an unconditional ceasefire on Thursday, vowing no attacks will take place against the Taliban for the duration of Ramadan, ending with the Eid celebration on June 20th.
This comes amid reports of secret peace talks ongoing in Afghanistan. While no one seems to agree how far these talks have progressed, the ceasefire is the first Ghani has confirmed since taking power in 2014.
US commander Gen. John Nicholson has confirmed that the US will also comply with the ceasefire, with respect to the Taliban. They say that offensives against other militants will continue unchanged. NATO also endorsed the plan, urging both sides to seek more talks.
NATO’s position makes it somewhat surprising the US is on board, as President Trump has been very publicly opposed to talks with the Taliban. That said, it would be difficult for the US to totally spurn a ceasefire called by their allies. This means it remains an open question how closely the US will comply, and how many times they attack Taliban claiming they thought they were ISIS or some other faction.
Ramadan is half over and a couple of the worst attacks, and raids, have already happened since it began. Some peace is better than none.