‘An Opportunity for the Taliban’
The Afghan president announced a weeklong unilateral ceasefire, but are the insurgents interested?
It's been rare, over the past 17 years of conflict in Afghanistan, to see any particularly bold movements toward peace. So Ashraf Ghani's announcement Thursday that he would observe a weeklong ceasefire with the Taliban was a dramatic departure from the pattern, even if only for a week. And the gesture follows up the Afghan leader’s unconditional offer of talks with the Taliban in February. In neither case, so far, has the Taliban responded, but both offers hint at the tantalizing prospect of change in a long-stalemated conflict.
“This ceasefire is an opportunity for the Taliban to introspect that their violent campaign is
