Afghanistan declares ceasefire with Taliban

The ‘conditional ceasefire’ starts on Monday and will be in place for around three months, ‘provided the Taliban reciprocate’, said President Ashraf Ghani.
Afghanistan on Sunday declared a “conditional” ceasefire with Taliban militants ahead of the Eid-al-Adha festival this week. The ceasefire starts on Monday and will be in place for around three months, “provided the Taliban reciprocate”, President Ashraf Ghani said.
Unidentified insurgents in the Taliban told Reuters that their leaders had also provisionally agreed for a four-day truce during the festival. The group also said it would free hundreds of prisoners, but did not give further details.
“The conditional ceasefire will start tomorrow [Monday] and it will continue as long as the Taliban preserves and respects it,” Ghani said during celebrations of 99 years of independence from British rule. “We call on the leadership of the Taliban to welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long-lasting and real peace, and we urge them to get ready for peace-talks based on Islamic values and principles.”
The conditional ceasefire will run until the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, which will be observed in Afghanistan on November 21.