Following last week’s unilateral ceasefire announcement by the Afghan government, meant to stay in place for the duration of Ramadan, the Taliban has announced its own ceasefire overing the last three days of the month-long holiday.
Taliban officials say the ceasefire will be in place for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a three-day period of festivities at the end of Ramadan. They say the ceasefire doesn’t apply to foreign forces, and warned they would defend themselves if attacked.
The ceasefire is a first of its kind from the Taliban, and Afghan officials praised the move, saying it was an important step, and could greatly improve the chances of peace talks making progress. An honest ceasefire would be a big change.
That’s doubly true for young Afghans, many of whom were born during the US occupation, and have never known a period of time where Afghanistan wasn’t in a state of open warfare. Even a brief ceasefire will be something very new for them.