KABUL (SW) – On the occasion of Eid al-Fitr last year, the Taliban agreed to a ceasefire that saw the insurgents enter cities and many government employees visit their restive villages.
However, the Taliban leader Mawlawi Hebatullah Akhundzada said categorically in his Eid message that the group would not ceasefire, and would instead continue with the insurgency during and after this.
The U.S. envoys as well as the Afghan politicians also urged the Taliban during meetings in Doha and in Moscow for truce, but to no avail.
Hence the question emerges why are the Taliban shying away from announcing ceasefire?
In conversation with Salam Watandar, a number of analysts argued the insurgents are not allowed by their foreign backers to ceasefire, and they fear a truce would leave negative impacts on the morale of the fighters.
Defense analyst, Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, said the Taliban’s foreign backers are stopping them from announcing a ceasefire. Jawed Kohistani, another expert on security affairs, said the Taliban wants to keep the U.S. under pressure for ultimate withdrawal through the ongoing insurgency. He said the ceasefire would change this determination among the Taliban fighters on the battle fronts.
However, a former Taliban-era official, Waheed Mujda, said the Taliban have a Sharia-based vision for a potential ceasefire, and until foreign troops are based in Afghanistan, they consider it against the Sharia. He added the ceasefire announced last year by the Taliban gave birth to many questions among the Taliban leadership.
He added the ongoing talks between the U.S. and the Taliban also compelled the Taliban to keep fighting for a position of strength.
ENDS
