The Taliban ordered all its fighters ‘to refrain from any kind of attack’ on Saturday ahead of the signing of an agreement with the US diplomats aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan.
“Today (Saturday) all the Taliban fighters are ordered to refrain from any kind of attack … for the happiness of the nation,” Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban said. “The biggest thing is that we hope the US remain committed to their promises during the negotiation and peace deal,” he said, adding that foreign forces’ aircraft are flying over Taliban territory which is ‘irritating and provocative’.
Millions of Afghans are anticipating that America’s longest war fought in their country will end from Saturday as US and Taliban negotiators signed a deal to allow a US troop reduction and a permanent ceasefire.
A 31-member Taliban delegation arrived in Qatar on Saturday to oversee the signing of the troop withdrawal deal, said officials. Photographs from the venue showed a large banner stating ‘Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan’ placed in a conference room adjoining the hotel.
Security was tightened outside the hotel as hotel guests, journalists and government officials thronged the lobby.
Security experts said the deal is a foreign policy gamble for US President Donald Trump and would give the Taliban international legitimacy. But for millions of Afghans it has opened a possibility to end the ongoing struggle of coping with fear, anxiety and violence.
“Peace is extremely simple and my country deserves it. Today is the day when maybe we will see a positive change,” said Javed Hassan, 38, a school teacher living on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.
Hassan’s children were killed in a bomb blast carried out by the Taliban in 2018. Since then, he has been writing letters to world leaders urging them to end the Afghan war that has dominated the landscape of the land-locked country.
Under the deal, the Taliban wants 5,000 fighters to be released from Afghan-run jails, but it’s not clear whether the Afghan government will agree. Some senior commanders of the Taliban who arrived in Doha for the signing ceremony said they will ensure that the US and Afghan governments accept all the conditions laid down by the group that controls about 40% of Afghanistan, according to Afghan defense officials. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg was also in Afghanistan on Saturday for meetings with officials as the United States and the Taliban signed a long-sought deal, the alliance said.
Stoltenberg participated in a Kabul media conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the NATO statement said. He was also to meet the head of the US and NATO forces in the country, General Scott Miller, as well as other commanders of the alliance’s training mission there.
