Afghan Taliban say no fighting during Ramzan

KABUL, DECEMBER 9: Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said Thursday they would not launch any fighting against Opposition forces during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

The Taliban control Kabul and most of the country but are battling Opposition troops who hold two northeastern provinces and the Panjshir Valley, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the capital. "We will not initiate fighting during Ramzan," said Mawlawi Masoom Janan, head of the Taliban Commission for crossline operations. During Ramzan, which began Thursday in Afghanistan, Muslims are forbidden from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk. In a rare agreement the Taliban and Opposition forces have agreed to allow UN humanitarian convoys across the frontlines, 45 kilometres (30 miles) North of Kabul.

On Monday eight 15-tonne UN World Food Programme trucks crossed to Gulbahar, at the mouth of the Panjshir, where wheat and clothes are being stored in an old German-run textile factory. Twenty trucks crossed on Tuesday and another 12 trucks were due to cross Thursday, said Isireli Dugu, the UN deputy field security officer in Afghanistan. More crossings are expected on Friday and Saturday and discussions between the two sides will continue to allow more trucks over the frontlines, he said. "It is progressing well," he said.