It is a truce which must begin in Afghanistan after several days of violence.

The Taliban, imitated by the Afghan government, announced Monday, May 10 a three-day ceasefire for Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which marks the end of Ramadan this week, as Washington prepares to withdraw its soldiers from the country.

Afghanistan has seen an upsurge in violence since May 1, when the United States was supposed to have withdrawn its 2,500 troops still present.

At least 11 people were killed on Monday after a bomb exploded as a bus passed by in Zabul province (south), a few hours before the announcement made by the Taliban, according to the ministry. 'Interior.

Two days earlier, the deadliest attack in a year had been carried out outside a girls' school in Kabul.

At least 50 people have died, mostly students, and around 100 have been injured in a series of explosions.

On Monday morning, the Taliban ordered fighters "to cease all attacks against the enemy throughout the country from the first to the third day of Eid," according to an insurgent statement.

Eid al-Fitr is the Muslim holiday which marks the end of Ramadan this week and its date is fixed by the position of the moon.

According to a statement, President Ashraf Ghani immediately ordered his armed forces to "respect the ceasefire" announced by the insurgents, which he again urged to announce a permanent truce to end the war.

Last year, the Taliban also declared ceasefires on Muslim holidays and had already been imitated by the government.

On Saturday, a series of explosions occurred in front of a school establishment in a district of Kabul, Dasht-e-Barchi, mainly populated by Hazara Shiites, often targeted by Sunni extremists, when many of its inhabitants were making their races.

The toll exceeds 50 dead and 100 injured.

On Sunday, the bodies of dozens of young girls were buried in a hilltop cemetery in Kabul.

A short truce

For political analyst Fawad Kochi, the ceasefire is a way for the Taliban leaders to give their forces a brief respite from the fighting that has escalated since the US troop withdrawal began on May 1.

"The government will try by all means to extend the ceasefire, but the Taliban will return to the battlefield just after Eid," he said.

"The Taliban know that a prolonged ceasefire will divide them and kill their momentum. They will never want it."

The government accused the Taliban of being behind the attack on Saturday in front of the school, but the latter denied any responsibility.

They said they had not committed any terrorist attacks in Kabul since February 2020, when they signed an agreement with the United States paving the way for peace talks and the withdrawal of the last American troops.

However, they continue to fight government forces outside the big cities on a daily basis.

The United States was to have withdrawn all of its troops still present there on May 1, under the agreement signed in February 2020 in Qatar with the Taliban by the former administration of Donald Trump.

But Washington postponed this deadline to September 11, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 attacks, which angered the Taliban.

In a message released on Sunday, Haibatullah Akhundzada, their leader, said any delay in the withdrawal would be a "violation" of the agreement reached.

"If America fails to meet its commitments again, then the world must witness and hold America accountable for all consequences," he warned.

With AFP

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