The end of the Eid ceasefire in Afghanistan returned the country to civil war, though many are hoping that the temporary cessation of hostilities between the Taliban and Kabul will be a starting point for a more sustainable future peace. The short-term truce was briefly jeopardized by two Daesh suicide bombings, but both parties to the agreement were mature enough to not overreact and continued to celebrate with one another. The footage of Taliban and Kabul troops dancing in the streets, sharing sweets, and overall just having a great time with one another showed that Russia was indeed correct in describing the conflict as a "fratricidal war" between brothers instead of the "Pakistan-supported" "war of terror" that the US Mainstream Media misportrayed it as for years already.
Regrettably for some, the Taliban rejected Kabul's overture to extend the ceasefire beyond the Eid holidays, but the memory of what just happened all throughout Afghanistan won't be soon forgotten. Commentators noted how friendly the two sides appeared to be with one another, and while the country is still undoubtedly in a state of civil war, it seemed for a moment that both parties' fighters had grown tired of the 17-year-long conflict and would welcome another respite sometime in the future. This could conceivably pave the way for other ceasefires after this one proved to be such a stunning success, though conditional of course on Kabul and the Taliban having the political will to agree to this again sometime down the line.
On the other hand, the Eid ceasefire might have only been an isolated event that the Taliban agreed to for purely religious reasons, meaning that it would be inaccurate to consider it as a template for future ones and therefore ruling out any eventual analogous outcome like in Syria where similar cessations of hostilities were used as the basis for much more comprehensive peacemaking moves. In addition, despite whatever the US may say in public, it doesn't have an interest in seeing Kabul normalize relations with the Taliban unless the latter are doing so from a position of weakness. Not only is this the case for obvious strategic reasons, but also ones pertaining to domestic American politics since Trump can't afford to be seen as "selling out" to what he considers to be "radical Islamic terrorists" right before the November midterm elections.
Andrew Korybko is joined Syed Ali Zia Jaffery, Research Associate at the Center for Security, Strategy and Policy Research at the University of Lahore and Associate Editor of Pakistan Politico, and Mohsin Siddiqui, Blogger and commentator.
Want to sound off and share what you think about this? Send us an email at radio@sputniknews.com or find us on Facebook!
