Daily Times

The Taliban have agreed to a three-day ceasefire with Afghan government forces coinciding with upcoming Eidul Fitr.

In their announcement on Saturday, the group said it would halt all attacks, except against foreign forces.

This is the first time the Taliban have agreed to a ceasefire since the 2001 US- led invasion, and follows the announcement by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, a few days ago, for a unilateral truce by Afghan government troops. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said the Taliban move was an “opportunity for the militants to realise their violent campaign was not winning them hearts and minds but further alienating the Afghan people from their cause”.

There has been no immediate comment from the US military or administration, which shall most likely see the move as a sign of progress.

The announcement by the Taliban came hours after Taliban fighters killed 19 Afghan policemen in Kunduz province.

Talking to delegates shortly after the Ghani’s announcement on Thursday, Lisa Curtis, who heads Afghanistan policy at the National Security Council, had said: “If the Taliban halt attacks during the brief ceasefire it will represent an unprecedented step forward in the peace process.”

Curtis continued: “However, even if the Taliban does not reciprocate, this demonstration of the Afghan government’s seriousness about a peace process will illustrate to all stakeholders which party bears primary responsibility for perpetuating this war.”

Curtis also underlined Pakistan’s role as an important component to “catalyse” the peace process. “We have asked for Pakistan’s assistance in facilitating the peace process and we need to understand Pakistan’s own core security concerns to ensure that its interests are taken into account in any peace process.”

She added, “However, we have to be clear,” adding: “Pakistan’s interests are not served by Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan. Pakistan has a fundamental responsibility to address the use of its territory.”

Pakistan’s role in facilitating the Afghan peace process has previously been viewed with scepticism. Pakistan has been under US pressure to encourage the Afghan Taliban to participate in the talks.

In a panel discussion titled ‘Top-Down Peace: Negotiations, the Taliban and the Shape of a Deal’, former special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Laurel Miller highlighted the role of the US in the peace process, saying: “To claim that ending the war predominantly requires Afghans talking to Afghans, without discussing a US withdrawal … flies in the face of reality.”

Her view was echoed by Dr Barnett R Rubin, a senior fellow and associate director of the CIC, who tweeted later in the day: “From the Taliban point of view, he is asking for a ceasefire while the US is still ‘occupying’ Afghanistan, so it is hard for them to accept, but they may come under pressure from both people and Pakistan to observe.”

Ghani’s call for a temporary truce came a day after a telephonic conversation between United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

A statement released from the US State Department said among other topics the two had discussed “advancing US-Pakistani relations and the need for political reconciliation in Afghanistan.”

In August, US President Donald Trump unveiled a new hawkish US South Asia Strategy. He increased airstrikes in Afghanistan aimed at forcing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

The Afghan military report the impact has been significant, however, the Taliban continue to roam huge swathes of the country. Foreign troops were drawn down from 15,600 to 140,000 in 2014, indicating little hope for an outright victory.

Army Gen John W Nicholson said during a news conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Friday that the US South Asia strategy had been a game-changer for Afghanistan and the region. “The objective for this strategy is reconciliation, and the strategy is working,” he said.

The announcement by the Taliban accompanied with the renewed US-Pakistan dialogue is seen by many Washington policy hawks as a turning point in bilateral ties.

Published in Daily Times, June 10^th 2018.