U.S. President Donald Trump says he has not set a target date for a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, where a fragile U.S.-Taliban peace process has gained renewed momentum in recent days.
The Afghan government plans to release 900 more Taliban prisoners on May 26, as a cease-fire by the militants enters its third and final day.
Afghan authorities say they have released 100 Taliban prisoners as part of the government's response to a three-day cease-fire the militants called to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
As Afghans enjoy a brief respite from violence during a rare cease-fire during the Muslim holy festival of Eid al-Fitr, government officials, Taliban, and international diplomats reflect on the human and material toll this impoverished country is enduring because of fighting.
Fewer worshippers than in previous years came to Faisal Mosque in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, to pray on the Eid al-Fitr holiday on May 24. In Quetta, in Pakistan's province of Balochistan, the main holiday prayers took place outdoors.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani vowed on May 24 to speed up the release of Taliban prisoners after welcoming an offer by the militants of a three-day cease-fire to mark Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ninety-seven people have been confirmed dead in the crash of a Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) plane into a residential area in the southern port city of Karachi.
U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has urged a reduction in violence “by all sides” in Afghanistan, saying innocent Afghans are bearing too much of the brunt of the war.
A quarterly report by the U.S. Department of Defense to Congress has noted Pakistani continued support for Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban movement in violence in the country.
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