In his Ramadan message, President Ghani called on the Taliban for a ceasefire to honor the holy month of Ramadan and because of the Coronavirus threat, but the Taliban said a ceasefire was not reasonable to ask due to a lack of adherence to the implementation of the peace agreement and endangering thousands of their prisoners amid the pandemic.
On the other hand, NATO has said that the prospect of starting negotiations to achieve peace in Afghanistan is an exceptional opportunity and that the Taliban must end the violence immediately.
President Ghani said: “The Afghan people and government want the Taliban in this critical situation throughout the country to respect the call for peace and ceasefire in the holy month of Ramadan and to refrain from violence against the Muslim people of Afghanistan and start living a peaceful life.”
Hours after the president’s call, Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, said that Taliban has adopted a comprehensive mechanism for signing an agreement with the United States adding that “The Security Council and the international community have confirmed that if it is implemented, it will lead to peace and a ceasefire.”
He added, despite the fact that thousands of their prisoners are in danger of the crisis, it was unreasonable to call for a ceasefire.
“The Taliban believe that under the agreement signed with the United States, 5,000 prisoners should be released and a ceasefire should be negotiated,” said Khalil Safi, head of the Afghan Peace Center.
Meanwhile, a number of foreign representatives in Afghanistan are calling on the parties involved to reduce violence during Ramadan.
Nicolas Kay, NATO’s representative in Afghanistan stated, “I wish everyone would enjoy a peaceful Ramadan” hoping that the “war ends” so that Muslims in Afghanistan can celebrate Ramadan in peace.”
This comes as the National Security Council reported the release of 58 other Taliban prisoners and that 550 Taliban insurgents have been released so far.
According to the agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban, 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 government prisoners should be released, followed by Intra-Afghan negotiations.