The Afghan government confirmed this week that it released 490 Taliban prisoners and is expected to release hundreds more to convince the narco-jihadi organization to engage in peace negotiations with Kabul.
Predominantly Sunni jihadi groups carried out 187 terrorist attacks across nearly 30 countries on Ramadan this year, driving the number of fatalities up to 911 and injuries to 1,006 when compared to the casualties during the holiest month for Muslims in 2018, a Breitbart News database analysis shows.
The Afghan Taliban on Friday rejected reports that they had agreed to a repeat of last year’s unprecedented three-day ceasefire in honor of the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, noting the audio message about the truce is related to last year’s cessation of hostilities.
China’s predominantly Muslim Uighur minority will spend the 2018 Eid al-Fitr holiday season fleeing persecution in Xinjiang province and calling attention to the plight of their families back home.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States is a failure and referred to the nation, as he has for decades, as the “Great Satan” during his annual Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran on Friday morning.
The Afghan government may get to enjoy an unprecedented respite from the nearly 17-year-old war if the Taliban honors its three-day ceasefire that started Friday in honor of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israeli police say bomb disposal units have detonated an explosive device attached to a balloon fired from Gaza that floated on to a highway.
Hamas on Thursday threatened to send 5,000 fire kites and balloons deep into Israeli territory on Friday, when the Gaza border will see another of the weekly “March of Return” mass protests, Palestinian and Israeli media reported.
