Ceasefire with Taliban extended for 10 more days

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani extended Monday a unilateral ceasefire with Taliban for another 10 days.

A statement from the Presidential Palace said the decision was made at a meeting of the National Security Council.

Participants in the meeting, the presidency said in the statement, strongly condemned the latest terrorist attack in eastern Nangarhar and extended condolences to the victims’ families.

According to the official Pajhwok News Agency, security officials participating in the meeting briefed the president about security conditions in the different provinces.

They told the president that security agencies were ready to defend Afghanistan against any attack, the agency said.

President Ghani declared a truce with the Taliban on the occasion of the al-Fitr feast. The truce started on June 12 and should have come to an end on June 18.

The Afghan president then extended the truce for an indefinite period.

Taliban members and security officials were celebrating the truce in Nangarhar when a blast went off, killing dozens of people and injuring others.

Taliban then said for it, the ceasefire is over.