Afghan President Announces End of Unilateral Ceasefire with Taliban

Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the President of Afghanistan, announced the end of an 18-day unilateral ceasefire with the Taliban on Saturday, July 9. Hours later, the country's security forces resumed operations against the Taliban. In his press conference, Ghani assessed the recent ceasefire as '98 percent successful' and emphasized that 'the Taliban now face the people and religious scholars of Afghanistan and the world.' He urged the military and security forces to resume their operations against the Taliban. The Taliban had not accepted the government's unilateral ceasefire, but they paused fighting for three days during Eid al-Fitr. This three-day halt in fighting was unprecedented in the 17 years of internal conflict in Afghanistan, bringing waves of joy across the war-torn country. Taliban militants and security forces spontaneously celebrated Eid al-Fitr together, hugging each other and taking selfies. In his Saturday meeting, Ghani addressed the Taliban, saying, 'Come and make peace. This is Afghan pressure, not foreign. This is the demand of scholars, the people, and women. [End the war].' The Afghan President also stressed that 'whenever the Taliban is ready, I am also ready to extend the ceasefire.' A few days earlier, the Taliban rejected the Afghan government's request to extend the ceasefire, stating that they would continue the war against the Afghan government and its foreign supporters.