Although the Taliban statement did not acknowledge the government cease-fire, the moves by the two sides would overlap for three days.

For the festival, Taliban fighters "are instructed to stop their offensive operations against domestic opposition," the militant group's statement said, referring to Afghan forces. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan and begins June 16.

The Taliban statement said international forces in the US-led NATO coalition would still be the target of attacks. But the movement of international forces has been limited in recent years under a curtailed advisory role, with a smaller counterterrorism mission that largely focuses on remnants of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said their announcement was not in response to the government's declaration of cease-fire. In past years, Mujahid said, the Taliban have instructed their fighters to abstain from attacks; but they could not announce that publicly out of fear that the government and the US military would take advantage of it and amplify attacks.

"The reason for announcing it this time is that, after the Kabul administration announced theirs, the people were concerned that our Mujahedeen might continue operations and it might disturb their Eid celebrations," Mujahid said. "We wanted them to be confident that we also won't do any operations. But our announcement is unrelated to the Kabul administration's."

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Overnight violence served as a reminder of how the deadly the war remains. In the Zawol district of western Herat province, the governor's spokesman said 18 members of the Afghan army and police were killed in an overnight ambush Friday.

Jarett Blanc, a former US diplomat who was involved in earlier efforts to start a peace process with the Taliban, said the cease-fire provides an opportunity for both sides to demonstrate control over their armed forces.

"One problem you always get in insurgencies and negations is, 'Who can I talk to? Who is in charge?'" Blanc said. "In Afghanistan, the Taliban genuinely doubt the government of Afghanistan's ability to control the most important armed forces, which is ours."

Conversations with diplomats and senior officials in Kabul suggest that the unilateral cease-fire announced by the government had not been coordinated with the Taliban or the outcome of a broader, cohesive peace effort.

Over the past few years, as the United States has drawn down from the peak of about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, it has increasingly embraced a political settlement as the only end to the long Afghan war.

But just how that settlement could be negotiated has proved to be a difficult task, compounded by several factors, including the Taliban's long, complicated relationship with the Pakistani military as a source of support; a weak interlocutor in the government in Kabul that's marred by infighting; and the breakdown of consensus among regional players like Iran and Russia, who have stakes in an endgame in Afghanistan.