KABUL: Afghan security forces killed 10 Taliban militants as a ceasefire announced by the president took effect, an official said on Friday, and security forces said they would respond if attacked.
The 10 included five Pakistanis killed in the clash in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the official said, adding, “We finished the operation and will now follow the ceasefire plan.”
Four people were killed and five wounded by unidentified gunmen in a separate attack on a lawmaker’s Nangarhar home on Friday. The lawmaker was not at home at the time.
The ceasefire was welcomed by the United Nations, the United States and NATO, but some independent analysts expressed skepticism, with one diplomat calling it a “one-sided love story” as the Taliban, who have yet to respond, are deemed unlikely to reciprocate.
Some diplomats said it came as a bit of a surprise, showing that at one level the government wanted intensified air strikes, but on another it was offering an olive branch.
Security officials said they would suspend operations against the Taliban in line with the ceasefire but would respond firmly if attacked.
President Ashraf Ghani announced for the first time an unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban coinciding with Eid, the end of the Muslim fasting month, but excluding other militant groups, such as Daesh.
“It is not a laying-down of arms,” a senior official told Reuters.
The ceasefire followed a meeting of Islamic clerics this week that declared a fatwa, or ruling, against suicide bombings, one of which, claimed by Daesh, killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul.
The clerics also recommended a ceasefire with the Taliban, who are fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after their ouster in 2001, and Ghani endorsed the recommendation, saying it would last until June 20.
The United States wants to step up military operations against Daesh militants in Nangarhar during the ceasefire, the top US general in Afghanistan said on Friday.
“(Operations against Daesh) will continue, in fact, will be even intensified, during this period of ceasefire, as we focus on ISIS,” General John Nicholson, commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in Brussels.
Afghan forces kill 10 Taliban as ceasefire is announced
Afghan forces kill 10 Taliban as ceasefire is announced
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Putin and Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine wars: Kremlin
- Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December
MOSCOW: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on Monday discussed the Iran war and Ukraine conflict during a “frank and constructive” telephone call, the Kremlin said.
Putin and Trump held a one-hour call in their first talks since December and Washington sought the discussion, Putin’s diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
“The accent was placed on the situation surrounding the conflict with Iran and the bilateral negotiations underway with the representatives of the United States on settling the Ukrainian question,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov said Putin called for a “quick political and diplomatic settlement” to the US-Israeli war against Iran, which has been a key ally for Russia.
The Russian leader also gave Trump “a description of the current situation on the line of contact where Russian troops are progressing with a lot of success,” he added, referring to the Ukraine war.
Putin “positively evaluated the mediation efforts undertaken” by Trump in the Ukraine conflict, the adviser said. A series of talks have been held between Russian and US officials and between Russian, US and Ukrainian officials, but with no breakthrough in efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Ushakov said Washington had wanted to “discuss a series of extremely important questions linked to the current international situation.”
“The conversation was serious and constructive,” he added.
Trump and Putin held a summit in Alaska in August last year.
