KABUL – Taking selfies with Afghan soldiers and government officials overEid-al-Fitr’s three-day ceasefire has sparked the anger of senior AfghanTaliban members.
A number of Taliban leaders said that Taliban members who took selfiesduring the ceasefire will be punished.
According to some Afghan officials, about 35,000 Taliban entered cities anddistricts over Eid and took selfies with the people and security forces.
A senior Taliban leader told Reuters that at the end of the three dayceasefire, an emergency meeting was called by Taliban leaders and allcommanders were directed to take disciplinary action against those Talibanwho took selfies with the people and government officials.
This comes after President Ashraf Ghani’s efforts to jump-start the peacetalks with the Taliban hit another hurdle this week when the Taliban onSunday declared their three-day ceasefire over and ordered their fightersto return to the trenches.
However, despite the Taliban’s decision, government is still confident thatthe peace talks can be restarted.
On Monday, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) said as Taliban left thecities after Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations, many stayed behind and are likely tojoin the peace process.
This came after Ghani’s unilateral ceasefire was widely hailed by bothAfghans and the international community. Following Ghani’s ceasefireannouncement, the Taliban followed suit, but instead ordered just athree-day truce.
Afghan politicians are confident that the initiative could lead to theresumption of the stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and theTaliban.
Thousands of Taliban members entered cities, towns and villages across thecountry where they celebrated Eid with residents and security forces overthe weekend. By Sunday evening most had left and returned to theirstrongholds.
But despite the euphoria experienced across the country, questions havebeen raised as to what happens to those Taliban members who have stayed inthe cities.
The three-day ceasefire was however respected by both security forces andthe Taliban but where government on Sunday extended its orders for another10 days, the Taliban ordered its fighters to return to the trenches andresume the war.