US Carries Out First Airstrikes Against Taliban Since End of Afghan Ceasefire - Official

A ceasefire, which was part of the peace deal negotiated between the Afghan government and the Taliban with the mediation of the United States earlier this year, expired on 26 May.

The US has carried out its first airstrikes against the Taliban* since the end of the Afghan ceasefire, a US military official said on Friday.

The airstrikes took place on Thursday and Friday in separate Afghan provinces, according to spokesman Sonny Leggett.

USFOR-A conducted 2 airstrikes on June 4 to disrupt coord. TB attacks on ANDSF checkpoints, IAW the US-TB agrmt. We reiterate: All sides must reduce violence to allow the peace process to take hold. These were the 1st US airstrikes against TB since the start of the Eid ceasefire

— USFOR-A Spokesman Col Sonny Leggett (@USFOR_A) June 5, 2020

A three-day ceasefire was declared by the Taliban​ on 23 May on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday which marks the end of the fasting period. After the ceasefire expired on 26 May, the fighting resumed. 

The ceasefire, along with the beginning of internal Afghan talks and the exchange of prisoners between Kabul and Talibs, was part of a peace deal reached with the mediation of Washington earlier this year, aimed at ending the almost 20-year-old military conflict between Kabul and the Taliban.

*Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia.