Taliban offer truce for prisoner release

A 3-month ceasefire proposed; Pakistan confirms militants have seized Spin Boldak border crossing

The Taliban have offered a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of 7,000 insurgent prisoners, an Afghan government negotiator said on Thursday, as Pakistan confirmed the militant group had control of a key border crossing. “It is a big demand,” said Nader Nadery, a key member of the government team involved in peace talks with the Taliban, adding the insurgents also demanded the removal of their leaders’ names from a United Nations blacklist. It was not clear how the government would react to the ceasefire offer, or how new it was, and it comes as the United States accelerates the pace of a troop withdrawal due to be finished by August 31. A spokesman for the Taliban said he was only aware of the suggestion of a ceasefire over the forthcoming Eid al-Adha holiday.