On Tuesday 21 August, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) urged all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, notably the Taliban, to accept President Ashraf Ghani's offer of a conditional three-month ceasefire.
This ceasefire "offers an invaluable chance for halting the on-going violence in Afghanistan, if all parties to the conflict, starting by the Taliban, show the determination and political courage needed to respect this offer", the spokesperson said in a press release, although on 21 August the Taliban had still not officially responded to the proposal. According to the EEAS spokesperson, the release of prisoners by the Taliban would also be an important step forward.
"All stakeholders and partners, particularly regional ones, should unambiguously join the efforts in favour of peace and reconciliation", the spokesperson added, saying that the EU was ready to support initiatives which could pave the way towards a peaceful Afghanistan.
Ghani's proposal of 19 August comes after ten days of extremely violent action. On 9 August, the Taliban launched an attack on Ghazni, a strategic city two hours' drive from Kabul, and the army, helped by US raids, needed several days to repel them. The fighting is reported to have left over 100 civilian victims, according to the UN. The Taliban has also conquered an army base in the north-west of the country, and an attack by so-called Islamic State (IS) in a school in Kabul left at least 37 people dead, most of them teenagers. The most recent attack was on 21 August. Kabul was the target of an attack that lasted over six hours and that was claimed by IS. It left six civilians and soldiers wounded and resulted in the death of two attackers. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)