Taliban kills 20 pro-government forces following three-day Eid ceasefire - UPDATED

  09 June 2018    Read: 2440
Taliban kills 20 pro-government forces following three-day Eid ceasefire - UPDATED

The Taliban have announced a three-day ceasefire with Afghan government forces for Eid, later this month, but it will not apply to foreign forces.

Hours after announcing a ceasefire in Afghanistan on Saturday, Taliban militants killed at least 20 pro-government forces, police said, The Quint reported.

The Taliban launched the multi-pronged offensives on security checkpoints in Kunduz province's Qala-e-Zal district, police spokesman Inamudin Rahmani told Xinhua news agency.

"Taliban rebels launched coordinated attacks on security checkpoints in Qala-e-Zal district early morning, which resulted in the death of 20 pro-government forces and injuring six others," said Rahmani.

Earlier on Saturday, the Taliban announced a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr when no attack will be carried out on Afghan forces.

"All mujahidin are instructed to stop all their offensive operations against the domestic opposition forces throughout the country during the first, second and third days of the Eid," read a Taliban statement.

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The group directed its fighters to stop all offensive operations during the holiday, although it said they would defend themselves if attacked.

This is the first time the Taliban have agreed a ceasefire since the 2001 US-led invasion.

The government announced a unilateral ceasefire earlier this week.

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".

Government forces will not stop fighting other militants, like the Islamic State (IS) group.


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