Afghan president orders end to unilateral cease-fire

KABUL – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has announced the end of the government’s unilateral cease-fire and ordered forces to restart their operations across the country.

Ghani said Saturday in a news conference that the government accepted the people’s call for peace and now it is the Taliban’s turn to take it into consideration.

The Taliban had independently observed a cease-fire to celebrate the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Fitr, which marked the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan. It was the first truce in Afghanistan’s brutal 17-year war and both Taliban and government officials embraced the reprieve from fighting with joint celebrations. In cities throughout the country, Taliban and Afghan government security personnel were seen laughing together and in some cases taking selfies as they embraced.