Taliban Rejects Afghan Proposal for Ramadan Ceasefire

Says timing 'not rational' amid growing fighting

The Taliban has issued a statement rejecting the Afghan government’s offer of a Ramadan ceasefire, saying they view it as “not rational” to agree to amid growing fighting across the country, and amid efforts to secure prisoner releases.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that the prisoner exchange is the primary reason fighting continued, and accused the Afghan government of putting the lives of the prisoners at risk by holding them amid a growing coronavirus pandemic.

This is a growing concern, with the fate of the prisoners a major factor, and the pandemic raising a real possibility that some will die of the virus even though they should’ve been released weeks ago per the peace deal the US and Taliban reached.

With Afghan officials repeatedly delaying those prisoner releases, the Taliban has been hitting government sites across the country. Violence is still generally down from before the deal, but the US insists it needs to go down more, and is demanding the Taliban make that happen, irrespective of them never getting the prisoners.

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.