Afghan Taliban agree three-day ceasefire - their first

The Taliban have announced a three-day ceasefire with Afghan government forces coinciding with Eid later this month.

This is the Taliban's first ceasefire since they were toppled by the 2001 US-led invasion and comes days after a unilateral truce by government troops.

The group said it would stop all offensive operations during the holiday, except against foreign forces.

The announcement came hours after Taliban fighters killed over 60 Afghan security forces across the country.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said the Taliban move was an opportunity for the militants to realise "their violent campaign" was "not winning them hearts and minds but further alienating the Afghan people from their cause".

Government forces will not stop fighting other militants operating in Afghanistan, like the Islamic State (IS) group.

Why now?

The Afghan government's unconditional truce follows a meeting of clerics, who earlier this week issued a fatwa condemning militant violence as un-Islamic.

The clerics were themselves targeted in a suicide attack claimed by IS, which killed 14 people outside their peace tent in Kabul this week.

The Taliban did not specify why they made the surprise decision to agree to the truce in their statement, but they did say they would consider releasing prisoners of war as long they did not continue fighting against them.

However, the group warned that it would "strongly defend" itself if it came under attack.

Afghan officials hailed the Taliban's move to join the ceasefire. UN special representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said he hoped it would "serve as as stepping stone" towards peace talks.

When will it actually happen?

No exact date has been given. It is timed to coincide with Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Afghan calendars mark the end of Ramadan as 15 June.

What about foreign forces?

In Washington, the state department said US forces and coalition partners in Afghanistan would "honour the ceasefire".

Foreign troop levels in the country have dropped to about 15,000.

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Their presence has been a major sticking point for the Taliban, who have long demanded they completely withdraw from the country as a pre-condition for peace talks to begin.

Other foreign combat forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2014.

What's the latest on the ground?

News of the upcoming truce has not prevented further violent incidents across Afghanistan. On Saturday alone, more than 60 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in separate Taliban attacks:

23 soldiers killed and nine wounded in southern Kandahar province and another 17 killed in Herat, in the west
19 police officers killed in north-eastern Kunduz province
Six killed and seven injured in northern Sar-e-Pol province

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