By KUNA,
Kabul : The International Peace Day is being observed here on Sunday, as is the case in the rest of the world, where the president’s call for troops not to engage in operations against militants were met with an announcement by Taliban that it too would observe a conditional ceasefire on this day.
Spokesperson of the United Nations’ Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), in a press conference last week, urged all warring parties to observe peace on that day.
Following the UN statement, Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered his country’s troops not to involve themselves in operations against militants on Sunday and to observe restraints.
Moreover, NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan General David McKiernan ordered, in a statement, the international troops to halt operations in Afghanistan on September 21.
Late last night, however, the Taliban also announced a truce for the day and said they would observe conditional ceasefire in respect of the UN-sponsored Peace Day in Afghanistan.
A statement posted on the Taliban website in Pashto language said that they would observe peace for the day provided the US, NATO and Afghan troops refrain from active engagements with them.
“We shall remain on the defensive,” said the Taliban statement.
Meanwhile, preparations for celebrating Peace Day have been ongoing, with governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as representatives of civil societies organizing rallies, gatherings and peace marches in the capital and other Afghan cities.