30 Afghan soldiers have been killed as the Taliban have resumed fighting upon the close of the ceasefire between themselves and the Afghan government. They assaulted government compounds and ambushed a convoy with both small arms fire and an IED. Local authorities have said that 16 Taliban were killed in the fighting, but that has yet to be corroborated.

The ceasefire was always intended to be a temporary one, extending over Eid al-Fitr (which is often celebrated over three days in this part of the world) which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Some local officials have said that the truce gave the Taliban an opportunity to seek out vulnerabilities within the Afghan security forces. It is difficult to tell whether or not this is what happened, as the Taliban regularly uses intelligence by exploiting the rampant corruption throughout the ranks of the Afghan military. These same questions were asked after the “Christmas Truce” of 1914, and consequently such meetings became increasingly rare.

President Ashraf Ghani had made attempts to extend the truce as long as possible — posing ideas to make it ten days long. However, the Taliban only accepted it for three days, and made sure to clarify that they would not cease hostilities toward foreign forces, like the United States. Ghani, who has been making public statements via twitter in regards to the ceasefire, has remained silent since its close.