Hours after the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire, the Presidential Palace and High Peace Council were among the first to welcome the decision, saying the Kabul administration appreciates any move which ends bloodshed in the country.
“Afghan government welcomes any move whether it is small or big which stops bloodshed of even the death of one Afghan. Afghanistan welcomes the ceasefire announcement by the Taliban,” President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said.
“People of Afghanistan and the High Peace Council are hopping that it will be a step to start face-to-face talks between Afghan government and armed Taliban,” said Ehsan Taheri, spokesman for the High Peace Council.
Meanwhile, Tamim Asey, the deputy minister of defense for policy and strategy, said the Afghan forces will discuss the extension of the ceasefire if the Taliban remain committed to their decision.
“I hope this ceasefire will turn into a process and as a professional army we await the president and the Afghan leadership’s order. But this ceasefire is extendable, and it depends on the authority and will of the Taliban and it depends on whether Taliban will be able to make a decision on war and peace in Afghanistan independently,” he said.
A senior American analyst meanwhile said he is optimistic about the ceasefire decision by the two sides.
“Obviously it is very important, and it is very welcomed. Anything that ends bloodshed is very welcomed. As far as I can remember, 40 years of fighting since the so-called Saur Revolution, it is the first time that a ceasefire has been agreed by various parties to the conflict,” said Barnett Rubin, senior expert on Afghanistan and South Asia.
Meanwhile, some MPs called on the Taliban to end the war and accept the peace offer.
“Taliban should welcome the Afghan government’s ceasefire so that we can achieve peace in our common homeland through intra-Afghan negotiations,” said Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament.
“We call on the two sides that our lives are connected with peace. Peace brings happiness and peace is an order by the Almighty God,” said Sayema Khogyani, an MP.
People from different parts of the country also welcomed the ceasefire by both sides – government and the Taliban. They said this should become a permanent ceasefire.
“I call on both sides to respect peace, because peace brings life and prosperity,” said Nazar Mohammad, a resident of Helmand province.
“It is enough. Slaughter and bloodshed are enough in this country. People are tired of war. Peace is their only demand,” said Abdulhaq, a resident of Helmand.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also welcomed the Taliban's announcement saying that it partially reciprocates the Afghan government's temporary ceasefire.
“The United Nations maintains that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan, and welcomes these ceasefires as positive developments toward reducing the violence in Afghanistan and ending the war,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA.
The move for a ceasefire was first announced by President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday.
The Taliban however did not mention the Afghan government’s ceasefire move in their statement on Saturday.
The statement says the ceasefire does not involve foreign forces.
The ceasefire from the Afghan government’s side is applicable from 27th of Ramadan, June 12, to the fifth of Eid-al-Fitr, June 19.