Afghanistan offers Taliban ceasefire during Muslim holiday

Ashraf Ghani, the president of Afghanistan, said that government forces would maintain a ceasefire over the duration of the four-day Muslim religious festival Eid-al Azha, which begins on Monday, provided it’s respected by the Taliban. “The conditional ceasefire will start tomorrow and it will continue as long as the Taliban preserves and respects it,” Ghani said during an independence day speech. The ceasefire, which the two sides reportedly discussed earlier this week, is intended to stop heavy clashes in the mostly insurgent-controlled province of Ghazni.