Taliban denies reports of ceasefire plans!

KABUL: The Taliban on Monday denied agreeing to any ceasefire in Afghanistan after rumours swirled of a potential deal that would see a reduction in fighting after more than 18 years of war.
The statement from the insurgents comes as local and international forces brace for another bloody winter amid renewed US-Taliban talks, after President Donald Trump called off the negotiations earlier this year over insurgent attacks.
“In the past few days, some media have been releasing untrue reports about a ceasefire… The fact is that, the Afghanistan has no ceasefire plans,” the Taliban said, after multiple media reports, including a story in the Wall Street Journal, suggested the group was on the verge of announcing some type of temporary truce.
The US and the Afghan government in Kabul have long called for a ceasefire with the Taliban, including during the year of negotiations between Washington and the militants that were abruptly called off by Trump in September.
However, the insurgents have repeatedly stated that any potential truce will only be ironed out after American troops withdraw from the country.
The US-Taliban talks, held mainly in Doha, were aimed at allowing Washington to begin withdrawing troops in return for various security guarantees.
They were on the brink of a deal when Trump abandoned the effort in September, citing Taliban violence. Negotiations have since restarted in Doha, but were earlier this month put on a “pause”.
Trump is looking to slash the troop presence in Afghanistan, potentially even before a deal between Washington and the Taliban is cemented.
Deadly bouts of fighting continue however, with tens of thousands of Afghan security forces killed since they inherited combat operations from Nato at the end of 2014.

— AFP