First day of Afghan truce as Taliban instruct fighters to cease violence 

A U.S. soldier of 2-12 Infantry 4BCT-4ID Task Force Mountain Warrior takes a break during a night mission near Honaker Miracle camp at the Pesh valley of Kunar Province August 12, 2009. (REUTERS/ File photo)
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Updated 22 February 2020
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First day of Afghan truce as Taliban instruct fighters to cease violence 

  • US and Taliban forces enforce mutually agreed seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan, starting midnight on Friday
  • Peace pact to be signed on Feb 29, intra-Afghan negotiations to follow soon after to deliver “permanent cease-fire“

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban military commission has instructed fighters of the insurgency to cease violence from February 22, the group said in a statement on Friday as the United States and the Taliban announced that they would sign a peace pact on February 29 to end America’s longest war after more than 18 years. 

Arab News reported on February 17 that the long-awaited peace agreement was scheduled to be signed on February 29 in Doha, Qatar, in the presence of international dignitaries and guarantors. 

On Friday, the Taliban military commission instructed its fighters not to carry out out any more attacks, including suicide and rocket assaults against US and allied forces in all provincial headquarters, foreign forces bases, Kabul city and all military corps of the Kabul administration, according to a statement and two audio recordings that Arab News is privy to.

The pause in attacks will continue until February 29, according to the Pashto-language order. In return, foreign and Afghan government forces will not conduct attacks, drone strikes, bombings, night raids, rocket and missile attacks on Taliban bases, the Taliban said in the letter send to its commanders.

“All governors and responsible persons should maintain round-the-clock contacts with and no one has the right to establish any contact with the enemy,” the order said. “Those will face severe punishment who will enter the area under the control of the enemy.”

On Friday, following a Taliban statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also confirmed that a peace pact would be signed on February 29.

“The only way to achieve a sustainable peace in Afghanistan is for Afghans to come together and agree on the way forward,” Pompeo said in a statement issued by the US State Department.

The statements came hours before US and Taliban forces enforced a mutually agreed seven-day reduction in violence in Afghanistan, starting midnight on Friday, meaning neither side would conduct offensive operations.

Intra-Afghan negotiations will start soon after February 29 and “build on this fundamental step to deliver a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire and the future political roadmap for Afghanistan,” Pompeo said.

Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Arab News on Thursday that no final decision had as yet been taken about the venue of an intra-Afghan dialogue, tentatively to be held on March 10. 

US officials have said the success of the temporary deal would enable the two sides to move ahead with the signing ceremony scheduled in Doha, the Qatari capital, which houses the Taliban’s political office and where the two negotiating teams have hammered out a comprehensive draft agreement after talks spread over a period of 18 months.

The Taliban said in a statement that both parties would now create a “suitable security situation” in advance of the agreement signing date, extend invitations to senior representatives of numerous countries and organizations to participate in the signing ceremony and make arrangements for the release of prisoners.

Senior Taliban negotiator Abdul Salam Hanafi said this week that 5,000 Taliban prisoners would be released under the agreement while the Taliban would set free 1,000 Afghans.

Shaheen tweeted that all foreign forces would leave Afghanistan under the agreement and no one would be allowed to use Afghan soil to launch attacks.

Experts pointed to possible challenges in implementing the peace agreement and the cease-fire.

“In case there are breaches/violations in the cease-fire it would manifest that either the Taliban factions are dissatisfied with the cease-fire or the spoilers inside Afghanistan may also take advantage and indulge in violence and put the responsibility on the shoulders of the Taliban,” Pakistan’s former ambassador Asif Khan Durrani told Arab News.

Also, the peace pact is meant to be followed by talks between the Taliban and the government in Kabul, a process that will certainly be complicated by a bitterly disputed presidential election, in which the opposition candidate claimed victory despite President Ashraf Ghani having been declared the winner. With rival claimants to legitimacy, experts say it is unclear who would negotiate with the Taliban following the peace pact, whether they would be prepared to enter talks while struggling to control the government, or what kind of mandate they would have.


Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors

Updated 5 sec ago
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Myanmar junta offers cash rewards to anti-coup defectors

  • The Southeast Asian country has been consumed by civil war since a 2021 coup
  • Embattled junta faces an array of pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic armed rebels
YANGON: Myanmar’s junta said Friday it is offering cash rewards to fighters willing to desert armed groups defying its rule and “return to the legal fold” ahead of a slated election.
The Southeast Asian country has been consumed by civil war since a 2021 coup, with the embattled junta facing an array of pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic armed rebels.
After suffering major battlefield reverses, the military has touted elections around the end of the year as a pathway to peace – plans denounced as a sham by opposition groups and international monitors.
State media The Global New Light of Myanmar said Friday “individuals who returned to the legal fold with arms and ammunition are being offered specific cash rewards.”
The junta mouthpiece did not specify how much cash it is offering, but said 14 anti-coup fighters had surrendered since it issued a statement pledging to “welcome” defectors two weeks ago.
“These individuals chose to abandon the path of armed struggle due to their desire to live peacefully within the framework of the law,” the newspaper said.
The surrendered fighters included 12 men and two women, it added.
Nine were members of ethnic armed groups, while five were from the pro-democracy “People’s Defense Forces” – formed after the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government four years ago.
The junta’s offer of a gilded olive branch matches a tactic used by its opponents – who have previously tried to tempt military deserters with cash rewards.
The “National Unity Government,” a self-proclaimed administration in exile dominated by ousted lawmakers, has called the junta’s call for cooperation “a strategy filled with deception aimed at legitimizing their power-consolidating sham election.”

Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India

Updated 5 min 58 sec ago
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Lightning strikes kill 33 people in eastern India

  • The deaths in Bihar occurred during fierce storms between Wednesday and Thursday, a state disaster management department statement said
  • The state government announced compensation of 4 million rupees ($4,600) to the families of those killed by lightning

PATNA, India: Lightning strikes during monsoon storms in eastern India this week killed at least 33 people and injured dozens, officials said Friday.

The deaths in Bihar occurred during fierce storms between Wednesday and Thursday, a state disaster management department statement said, with the victims mostly farmers and laborers working in the open.

More heavy rain and lightning are forecast for parts of the state.

Bihar state’s disaster management minister, Vijay Kumar Mandal, said that officials in vulnerable districts had been directed to “create awareness to take precautionary steps following an alert on lightning.”

The state government announced compensation of 4 million rupees ($4,600) to the families of those killed by lightning.

At least 243 died by lightning in 2024 and 275 the year earlier, according to the state government.

India’s eastern region, including Bihar, is prone to annual floods that kill dozens and displace hundreds of thousands of people during peak monsoon season.


Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

Updated 15 min 31 sec ago
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Russia downs 73 Ukrainian drones, including three flying to Moscow

  • Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine

Russian air defenses destroyed 73 Ukrainian drones overnight, including three heading for Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday.

Most of the drones were downed over Russia’s southwestern regions, including 31 over the Bryansk region that borders Ukraine, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, made no mention of casualties or damage, but said emergency services were examining the area where drone fragments fell to the ground. The federal aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, briefly ordered the suspension of operations at two airports near the capital, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky, but services were later resumed.

Operations were halted well after midnight at a third Moscow airport, Vnukovo before being reinstated by the morning. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine about the attacks. Kyiv says that its strikes inside Russia are necessary to destroy infrastructure key to Moscow’s efforts in its war against Ukraine, now in its fourth year.


‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

Updated 17 min 25 sec ago
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‘Tears of bitterness’: funeral of Kenya hawker killed in rally

  • Boniface Kariuki was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality
  • On that day, the 22-year-old mask vendor was not protesting

KANGEMA, Kenya: Before the white coffin containing Kenyan hawker Boniface Kariuki was carried into a vehicle for his final journey home, his mother screamed in grief – yet another parent to lose a child in deadly demonstrations roiling the east African nation.

On a recent Friday, hundreds of mourners streamed into a field near Kariuki’s home, roughly 100 kilometers from Nairobi, to witness his burial and vent their anger and grief.

The 22-year-old mask vendor was shot at point-blank range by an officer in riot gear during a rally against police brutality in June, and later died in a Nairobi hospital.

That day, Kariuki was not protesting.

The incident was captured on film and shared widely across social media, with mourners placing a still image of the moment just before he was shot on top of his coffin, which was also draped in a Kenyan flag.

His death has thrust the long-standing issue of police brutality in the country back into the spotlight and galvanized anger toward a government many Kenyans see as corrupt and unaccountable.

“Our grief cannot be understood. We shall miss you constantly,” his younger sister Gladys Wangare said.

“Your constant smile, genuine concern about our family. Life will never be the same again. Your place will remain empty,” she added.

As the coffin traveled to his hometown of Kangema, villagers gathered to see the entourage, with riot police eyeing the calm crowds from junctions.

Kariuki’s friend and fellow hawker Edwin Kagia, 24, described him as a hardworking, humble and “good guy” who was always cracking jokes.

“I used to hear that police kill people, but I could not imagine it would happen to my brother,” he said.

“We are in sorrow.”

Waves of protests have swept Kenya since June 2024, when proposed tax rises triggered widespread anger.

The increasingly violent rallies – often dominated by young men and paid thugs – have been met with a harsh police response, with rights groups saying at least 50 people have died in recent protests.

While President William Ruto has condemned the violence, promising those responsible would be held accountable, he has also backed the police – telling officers to shoot would-be looters “in the leg.”

At the funeral, Kariuki’s friend Kagia condemned the president’s remarks, urging him to apologize.

“The head of state uttering such statements de-filters the unity of the nation,” he said.

It came after the country’s top prosecutor said his office had “approved a murder charge against a police officer who allegedly murdered a mask vendor in Nairobi.”

Despite the arrest, people at the funeral remained skeptical and upset.

“Whoever did all this, let him actually not know any peace on this earth,” said Emily Wanjira, a spokesperson for the family.

“We are crying tears of bitterness.”


At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea

Updated 18 July 2025
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At least 4 dead and 1,300 evacuated after heavy rain in South Korea

  • The Interior and Safety Ministry says a collapsed overpass retaining wall in Osan killed one person on Wednesday
  • Parts of South Chungcheong province have seen up to 420 millimeters of rain

SEOUL: Two days of heavy downpours in South Korea have killed at least four people and forced more than 1,300 others to evacuate, officials said Thursday.
One person was killed when their car was buried by soil and concrete after a retaining wall of an overpass collapsed in Osan, just south of Seoul, during heavy rain on Wednesday, the Interior and Safety Ministry said.
Three other people were separately found dead Thursday in a submerged car, a stream, and a flooded basement in southern regions. Ministry officials said they were still investigating whether those deaths were directly caused by heavy rain.
The heavy rain has forced the evacuation of 1,382 people from their homes, the ministry said in a statement, adding 46 flights have been canceled.
Parts of southern South Chungcheong province have received up to 420 millimeters (16.5 inches) of rain since Wednesday, according to the ministry.