KABUL – The Taliban on Saturday announced its first ceasefire inAfghanistan since the 2001 US invasion, with a three-day halt inhostilities against the country’s security forces that was greeted withrelief by war-weary Afghans.

But the group warned the suspension of fighting for the first three days ofEid, the holiday that caps off Ramadan, did not extend to “foreignoccupiers”, who would continue to be targeted by the militants.

The unexpected move came two days after the Afghan government’s ownsurprise announcement of a week-long halt to operations against the Taliban.

It is the first time in nearly 17 years of conflict that the militants havedeclared a ceasefire, albeit a limited one.

“All the mujahideen are directed to stop offensive operationsagainst Afghan Forces for the first three days of Eid-al-Fitr,” the Talibansaid in a WhatsApp message to journalists.

But it added that “if the mujahideen are attacked we will strongly defend(ourselves)”.

The Taliban said “foreign occupiers are the exception” to the order sent toits fighters around the country. “Our operations will continue againstthem, we will attack them wherever we see them,” it said.

Hours before Saturday’s announcement, Taliban militants launched twoseparate assaults on Afghan security forces in the western province ofHerat and the northern province of Kunduz, killing at least 36 soldiers andpolice, officials said.

Even a brief cessation of hostilities would bring welcome relief tocivilians in the war-torn country, where they are paying a disproportionateprice in casualties as a result of the conflict.

*’Only three days’*

In recent years the resurgent militants, along with the Islamic Stategroup, have stepped up their attacks on Kabul in particular, making it thedeadliest place in the country for civilians.

“Only three days the Taliban are not killing us. The Taliban have won ourhearts, if they strike a peace deal with the Afghan government, the Afghanswill take them on their shoulders with love,” Shah Jahan Siyal, a residentof Nangarhar provincial capital Jalalabad, wrote on Facebook.

Dewa Niazai, a women’s rights activist in the same province, posted: “Longlive the Taliban! Finally we can breathe a deep sigh of relief on Eid days.I hope these three days of ceasefire turn to a permanent ceasefire.” Butnot everyone was satisfied.

“We shouldn’t be happy with just a three-day ceasefire,” a woman in Kabultold AFP.

“It is not sufficient and our president also shouldn’t be happy… Weshould reach for sustainable peace throughout the country.” PresidentAshraf Ghani welcomed the Taliban’s move in a tweet from his officialTwitter account. Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told ToloNews he hoped the “ceasefire continues”.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan,Tadamichi Yamamoto, said in a statement he hoped the ceasefires would“serve as a stepping stone” towards peace talks between the Afghangovernment and the Taliban. – APP/AFP