Kabul strikes ceasefire deal with Taliban

The Afghan government on Monday struck a local truce with Taliban insurgents and announced a ceasefire in a small part of Northwestern Afghanistan's Badghis Province ahead of the crucial Presidential polls.

The Afghan government on Monday struck a local truce with Taliban insurgents and announced a ceasefire in a small part of Northwestern Afghanistan's Badghis Province ahead of the crucial Presidential polls.

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The deal reached with the intervention of tribal elders after nearly three weeks of talks is a first time for Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks have soared and thousands more troops have poured in to secure the polls.

President Hamid Karzai is the leading candidate at the presidential election. Karzai's spokesman, Siamak Herawi, said negotiations lasted 20 days and resulted in both sides signing a ceasefire document Saturday that saw the militants pull out of three areas of the troubled district.