...Arabic for students...
and government forces appeared to be holding on its second day, boosting hopes that the two foes could soon begin peace talks.
There were no reports of major festivities since Friday, and Afghans took advantage of it to continue celebrating the Eid al-Adha
...a major Moslem holiday, marked by animal sacrifice and ritual rioting...
festival.
The three-day truce is slated for the duration of the Moslem festival and is only the third official pause in the nearly 19 years of war that has ravaged Afghanistan.
President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
and the Taliban have both signaled that peace talks could begin straight after Eid, and there are widespread calls to extend the ceasefire.
"I think we are closer to peace talks more than any other time," said Kabul resident Ahmad Rashed as he visited an animal market in the capital.
"The sooner they start, more lives could be saved."
Moslems across the world buy sheep or cows to slaughter in an annual ritual during the Eid al-Adha festival.
"There have been no reports of any terrorist attacks in the past two days since the ceasefire began," Attaullah Khogyani, front man to the governor of the eastern province of Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
told AFP.
Nangarhar has seen regular festivities between government forces and the Taliban, and also attacks claimed by the krazed killer Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group.
In the southern province of Kandahar, where the Taliban control swathes of rural terrains, there were no reports of fighting.
"There are no enemy movements or attacks by the Taliban," said Baheer Ahmad, front man to Kandahar governor.