Under the title "These Are the Conditions of the Taliban for a Three-Month Ceasefire," the Al Arabiya website reported that an Afghan government negotiator involved in peace talks with the Taliban stated on Thursday that the group proposed a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of about seven thousand imprisoned militants held in Afghan prisons. Nader Nadri told reporters, "It is a significant request." He added that the insurgents also sought to have leaders’ names removed from the United Nations blacklist. The Afghan official noted that this request is excessive, saying, "We have seen that the release of five thousand detained Taliban members did not help improve the situation; on the contrary, it increased the level of violence." Nadri pointed out that the escalation of combat across various regions of the country has resulted in the suspension of 112 development projects, with at least 260 government facilities destroyed in areas that fell under Taliban control, and public services there suspended.
Meanwhile, a representative of the Taliban told the Russian news agency "Novosti" that the group's proposal does not entail a complete ceasefire but merely aims to limit combat activities. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani pledged yesterday that conditions in the country would improve within three months and promised to "break the backbone of the Taliban," despite the group’s continued territorial advances.
Pakistani security forces dispersed a crowd at a border crossing with Afghanistan, amidst significant and rapid Taliban advances on the ground. On Thursday, Pakistani border guards used tear gas to disperse hundreds of people attempting to cross a border point that the Taliban seized control of from the Afghan side on Wednesday, according to local officials. An unnamed security official at the Spin Boldak border crossing (southwest) told AFP, "This morning, a crowd of about 400 unruly people trying to cross forcefully threw stones, which forced us to use tear gas."
Earlier, Pakistani officials and eyewitnesses told the American network "CNN" that Taliban fighters in Afghanistan took control of a key border crossing with Pakistan on Wednesday. The border crossing is located in the Spin Boldak border area, between the Pakistani town of Chaman and the Afghan town of Wesh, south of Afghanistan's main city of Kandahar. In Pakistan, Chaman area commissioner Jamadad Mandokhel stated, "Authorities ordered the border to be completely closed... Additional paramilitary forces have arrived. All activities have been suspended." This happens alongside the withdrawal of the United States and its allies from Afghanistan, which led to an intensification of Taliban attacks and territorial seizures.
