KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced a conditional cease-fire with Taliban insurgents for the duration of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

President Ghani made the announcement Sunday during celebrations of the 99th anniversary of Afghanistan's independence.

The "ceasefire can't be one sided," Ghani stressed.

The Taliban did not immediately respond to the announcement.

The government had previously announced a cease-fire with the Taliban during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June. The Taliban accepted that three-day cease-fire, but later rejected a call by the president to extend it. </s> Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called for a conditional cease-fire with Taliban insurgents for the duration of the Eid al-Adha holiday.



President Ghani made the announcement Sunday during celebrations of the 99th anniversary of Afghanistan's independence in the capital Kabul.



"The cease-fire should be observed from both sides, and its continuation and duration also depend on the Taliban's stand," Ghani stressed. He added that should the Taliban agree, it would be observed over Monday and Tuesday, the Eid holidays. He said he hoped extensions could also be agreed upon to make it last until Nov. 20, which will mark the birth anniversary of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.



The Taliban did not immediately respond to the announcement.



The government had previously announced a cease-fire with the Taliban during the Eid al-Fitr holiday in June. The Taliban accepted that three-day cease-fire, but later rejected a call by the president to extend it.



President Ghani's call comes just a day after the leader of the Afghan Taliban said that there will be no peace in Afghanistan as long as the "foreign occupation" continues, reiterating the group's position that the country's 17-year war can only be brought to an end through direct talks with the United States.



In a message released on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Maulvi Haibatullah Akhunzadah said Saturday that the group remains committed to "Islamic goals," the sovereignty of Afghanistan and ending the war.



The Taliban have resurged in recent years, seizing districts across the country and regularly carrying out large-scale attacks.



Earlier this month, the Taliban launched a major assault on the city of Ghazni, just 75 miles from Kabul. Afghan security forces battled the militants inside the city for five days, as the U.S. carried out airstrikes and sent advisers to help ground forces.



The battle for Ghazni killed at least 100 members of the Afghan security forces and 35 civilians, according to Afghan officials. </s> Afghan president Ghani announces conditional ceasefire with Taliban for Eid al-Adha holiday; Taliban yet to respond

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan president Ghani announces conditional ceasefire with Taliban for Eid al-Adha holiday; Taliban yet to respond. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan president Ghani announces conditional ceasefire with Taliban for Eid al-Adha holiday; Taliban yet to respond. </s> Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday announced a conditional three-month ceasefire with the Taliban starting on Monday.

“As we approach Eid-ul-Adha… we announce a ceasefire that would take effect from Monday, the day of Arafa, till the day of the birth of the prophet (PBUH), Milad-un-Nabi, provided that the Taliban reciprocate,” Ghani told a gathering celebrating the Independence Day, Xinhua reported.

The Afghan leader also called on Taliban leadership to welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long lasting and real peace.

“We urge the Taliban leadership to get ready for peace talks based on Islamic values and principles,” Ghani said, adding that the Afghan government has removed “all obstacles for a long lasting peace through these unprecedented steps.”

However, the Taliban group, which has repeatedly rejected an offer for peace talks with the Afghan government, has yet to react to President Ghani’s offer for ceasefire.

In June, the Afghan government announced a 17-day ceasefire to encourage the Taliban group to support the national reconciliation process.

Reciprocating the government step, the Taliban announced a three-day truce during Eid-ul-Fitr which marked end of fasting month. </s> Aug. 19 (UPI) -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani declared a conditional cease-fire with the Taliban on Sunday in advance of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Ghani announced the cease-fire would last at least three months to accommodate for the holiday, provided the Taliban also upholds the deal.

He also encouraged the Taliban to work with the government toward long-lasting peace, adding the cease-fire could be extended for as long as the Taliban is willing to cooperate.

"We call on the leadership of the Taliban to welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long lasting and real peace, and we urge them to get ready for peace-talks based on Islamic values and principles," he said. "The Afghan government has removed all obstacles for a long-lasting peace through these unprecedented steps."

The two sides reached their first cease-fire deal since the war began in 2001 in June, ahead of the three-day Muslim festival Eid al-Fitr.

Ghani ended the cease-fire after 18 days, while making an appeal to the Taliban to join a process toward peace.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised the decision and called on the Taliban to observe the terms of the cease-fire.

"I welcome President Ghani's announcement of a second cease-fire with the Taliban in Afghanistan. I encourage the Taliban to demonstrate their concern for Afghans by respecting it," Stoltenberg said. </s> KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday announced a ceasefire with Taliban insurgents from Monday to mark the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, despite the heavy fighting seen over recent days in the central city of Ghazni.

“The conditional ceasefire will start tomorrow and it will continue as long as the Taliban preserves and respects it,” he said in an Afghan Independence Day ceremony in Kabul.

“We call on the leadership of the Taliban to welcome the wishes of Afghans for a long-lasting and real peace,” he said.

A senior official in Ghani’s office said the “conditional” ceasefire would run for three months.

It was not immediately clear whether the Taliban had accepted Ghani’s call for a truce during Eid, the annual Islamic feast of sacrifice, which officially begins on Tuesday.

This month the Taliban fought an intense battle with Afghan forces to control the strategically important city of Ghazni.

At least 150 soldiers and 95 civilians were killed in a five-day siege, which eased last week when Afghan soldiers backed by U.S. forces pushed back the heavily armed rebels.

The Taliban said in a statement that they had control over half of Afghanistan.

Blasts, suicide attacks and clashes between hardline Islamic militants and Afghan forces killed over 1,600 civilians in the first six months of the year, the highest number in the past decade, the United Nations said in a statement on Sunday.

Ghani’s ceasefire announcement was limited to the Taliban and excluded other militant groups such as Islamic State. </s> Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered unconditional peace talks with the Afghan Taliban on Wednesday during the Kabul Process Conference in the nation's capital, and he asked for a cease-fire. The Afghan leader also pledged to recognize the insurgent group as a legitimate political party if it agrees to give up violence. VOA's Mohammad Habibzada reports. </s> KABUL (Reuters) - The Afghan Taliban on Saturday announced a three-day ceasefire over the Eid holiday at the end of this week, their first offer of its kind, following a ceasefire announced by the government on Thursday.

The militants said foreign forces would be excluded from the ceasefire and that operations against them would continue. They also said they would defend themselves against any attack.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban on Thursday, coinciding with the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but excluding other militant groups, such as Islamic State.

Ghani’s decision came after a meeting of Islamic clerics declared a fatwa, or ruling, against suicide bombings, one of which, claimed by Islamic State, killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul.

The clerics also recommended a ceasefire with the Taliban, who are seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after their ouster in 2001, and Ghani endorsed the recommendation, saying it would last until June 20.

It was not immediately clear when the Taliban ceasefire would begin, as Eid starts when the moon is first sighted on either the 29th or 30th day of Ramadan, and the moon appears at different times across the country.

Ghani has urged ceasefires with the Taliban before, but this was the first unconditional offer since he was elected in 2014.

In August, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a more hawkish military approach to Afghanistan, including a surge in air strikes, aimed at forcing the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Afghan security forces say the impact has been significant, but the Taliban roam huge swaths of the country and, with foreign troop levels of about 15,600, down from 140,000 in 2014, there appears little hope of outright victory.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani calls for a conditional cease-fire with Taliban insurgents for the duration of the Eid al-Adha holiday.