...the Pashtun equivalent of men...in the south of the country for the last few weeks, says the US forces are providing air support to the Afghan forces based on their need while considering the commitments the United States has made in the Doha agreement.
"Based on the commitments they (the US) have made with the Taliban for peace, they are not cooperating with us in land operations, but they provide us air support at our request," Gen. Zia said in an interview with TOLOnews.
The festivities in the south of the country started when the Taliban attacked three districts in Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
a month ago. The festivities then expanded to Kandahar and Uruzgan districts in the south of the country.
Zia questioned the Taliban’s will for peace and said there are two perceptions in this regard: "Either the Taliban in Doha is not recognized by those who are fighting on the battlefields, or they (Taliban) want to deceive the people."
Recently, many attacks happened in the country, including the Kabul University attack and the attack on Central Bank employees in Kabul, but were not claimed by any group.
The army chief blamed the Taliban for such attacks and said, "All attacks that happen in Afghanistan either the Taliban are behind them or they collaborate in these attacks with ISIS, al-Qaeda, or some other groups including the Haqqani network
...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani...
He stressed that there is a need for a ceasefire between the warring parties to move the grinding of the peace processor forward.