Taliban leaders in Afghanistan claim they will observe the United Nations International Day of Peace on Sunday. NATO's top general in Afghanistan has also ordered all international troops to halt offensive military operations to mark the occasion.
But the promise to observe "Peace Day" coincides with a new al Qaeda video warning of new attacks in Afghanistan.
A day of peace "would be quite rare in this country," CTV's Paul Workman told Newsnet on Saturday.
"I think tomorrow everyone is hoping it will be a quite day, that there will be no casualties on either side and no offensive actions."
Workman noted that it's difficult to determine if the Taliban will put down their weapons, even temporarily.
"There are always offensive operations from the Taliban against the foreign forces. We'll see if they do stop for a day," he said.
The UN launched the International Day of Peace in the early 1980s and made September 21 its permanent date in 2002.
"It's symbolic more than anything else (in Afghanistan) because all of the attacks and violence will continue in the days following," Workman said, noting that Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has also told his troops to temporarily halt offensive operations.
In a new video made public just this past week, Taliban and al Qaeda leaders said more attacks are ahead. The video promised more operations like the one that freed hundreds of prisoners in a jailbreak in Kandahar in the summer.
The video also said that Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is alive and doing well.
