{"id":27053,"date":"2018-07-09T20:57:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T20:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/09\/taliban-cease-fire-halted-fighting-but-not-the-corps-mission-in-helmand\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:44:33","slug":"taliban-cease-fire-halted-fighting-but-not-the-corps-mission-in-helmand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/09\/taliban-cease-fire-halted-fighting-but-not-the-corps-mission-in-helmand\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban cease-fire halted fighting but not the Corps\u2019 mission in Helmand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The brief few days of peace<\/a> between the \u00adTaliban and Afghan government was a watershed moment for the war-torn region, when thousands of \u00adTaliban fighters entered Afghanistan\u2019s cities to join government officials in celebrating the annual Muslim holiday of Eid.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-day cease-fire boosted hopes of ending the nearly 17-year war, with the U.S. largely relegated to the sidelines of an Afghan-led push for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the backdrop of peace talks, the Corps is continuing its mission to rebuild Afghan forces to eventually shoulder the entire burden of security in Afghanistan\u2019s most violent province, Helmand Valley<\/a>, where a third rotation of Marine advisers<\/a> is slated to arrive this fall to replace the current task force of nearly 300 Marines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur commitment to this mission is enduring,\u201d Capt. Joshua Benson, a Marine spokesman, told Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A stream of photos on social media over Eid-al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of fasting and \u00adRamadan, showed Taliban fighters praying alongside Afghan forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, U.S. and Afghan forces were still at war with a handful of other terrorist groups who are not under Taliban leadership, underscoring the complexity of the conflict in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the start of the unilateral cease-fire \u00adannounced by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on June 7, U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops launched a major offensive, dubbed Hamaz 3, against ISIS fighters in Nangarhar province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghani\u2019s cease-fire ultimately went into effect on the 27th day of Ramadan. The Taliban announced its own cease-fire on June 9, which kicked off on Eid, and lasted for three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. forces in the region agreed to abide by the cease-fire declarations with exception to \u201cU.S. counterterrorism efforts against IS-K, al-Qaida, and other regional and international terrorist groups, or the inherent right of U.S. and international forces to defend themselves,\u201d Lt. Col. Martin O\u2019Donnell, a spokesman for the Resolute Support mission, told Marine Corps Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And not all was quiet on the Helmand front at the outset of Ghani\u2019s cease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cU.S. aircraft have conducted non-lethal \u2018shows of presence\u2019 in both Ghazni and Helmand \u00adprovince since Afghanistan\u2019s unilateral cease-fire began,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t