Afghanistan Taliban plan 3-day cease-fire for Eid holiday

<p>KABUL, Afghanistan &mdash; Afghanistan’s Taliban said Monday they would participate in a three-day cease-fire for the Eid-al-Fitr holiday this week marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. </p>
<p>The cease-fire would begin on either Wednesday or Thursday. The Muslim calendar follows lunar cycles and the Eid holiday depends on the sighting of the new moon.</p>
<p>Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Taliban fighters have been ordered to stop all offensives, “to provide a peaceful and secure atmosphere to our compatriots . . . so that they may celebrate this joyous occasion with a greater peace of mind.”</p>
<p>The cease-fire announcement comes amid heightened violence in the country and follows a brutal attack on a girls’ school on Saturday that killed as many 60 people, most of them students between 11-15 years old. The death toll from the three explosions continues to climb.</p>
<p>The Taliban denied any responsibility and condemned the attack, which occurred in the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi in the west of the capital. </p>
<p>Attacks in the area are most often claimed by the Afghan Islamic State affiliate, but no group yet has claimed the attack on the school.</p>
<p>The cease-fire announcement also comes as the U.S. and NATO are withdrawing the last of their military forces. The final 2,500-3,500 American soldiers and roughly 7,000 allied NATO forces will leave by Sept. 11 at the latest.</p>
<p>The Afghan government has not yet responded to the cease-fire announcement.</p>
<p>However, deadly violence continued elsewhere in the country. Eleven people died when a bus hit a roadside mine in southern Zabul province, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said Monday. </p>
<p>Improvised explosive devices litter the countryside and have been used extensively by the Taliban.</p>
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