Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced on Thursday a week-long, unconditional ceasefire with the Taliban, coinciding with the end of the Muslim fasting month, but excluded other militant groups such as ISIS. The ceasefire, which would bring some welcome relief to war-weary civilians, will last "from the 27th of Ramadan until the fifth day of Eid-al-Fitr," the president tweeted from an official account, indicating it could run from June 12-19. It was not immediately clear if the Taliban would agree to the ceasefire, which would be the first during Eid since the US invasion in 2001. "We are checking with our officials regarding the ceasefire announcement," AFP quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying. The surprise declaration comes on the heels of a fatwa issued by Afghanistans top clerics branding suicide attacks "haram", or forbidden, and after the Pentagon announced that senior Taliban officials had been negotiating with Afghan officials on a possible ceasefire. A suicide bombing claimed by ISIS killed 14 people at the entrance to the clerics’ peace tent in Kabul. The clerics also recommended a ceasefire with the Taliban, who are seeking to reimpose a hardline approach after their ouster in 2001, and Ghani endorsed the recommendation, announcing a laying down of arms until June 20. Ghani has urged ceasefire with the Taliban before, but this was the first unconditional proposal since he was elected in 2014. Nearly 17 years after they were toppled from power, the Taliban are resurgent, with Afghan forces -- who have taken the lead in the conflict since NATO combat troops pulled out in 2014 -- struggling to contain them, while civilians pay a disproportionate price in the fighting. On the government side, not everyone agreed. Former army general Atiqullah Amarkhel said the ceasefire would give the Taliban a chance to regroup. “From a military prospect, it is not a good move,” he told Reuters. “It will give the enemy the opportunity to prepare itself for more attacks.” He also said he doubted the Taliban would lay down their arms and deny themselves the opportunity of fighting during the holy month of Ramadan in which attacks have intensified. “It’s a one-sided love story,” an international political analyst based in Kabul said. The Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan is at the end of next week. Ghani in February offered recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political group in a proposed political process that he said could lead to talks to end more than 16 years of war. Ghani proposed a ceasefire and a release of prisoners among a range of options including new elections involving the militants and a constitutional review in a pact with the Taliban to end a conflict which, last year alone, killed or wounded more than 10,000 civilians. US President Donald Trump in August unveiled a more hawkish military approach to Afghanistan, including a surge in air strikes, aimed at forcing the Taliban to the negotiating table. Afghan security forces say the impact has been significant, but the Taliban roam huge swaths of the country and, with foreign troop levels at about 15,600 compared with 140,000 in 2014, there appears little hope of outright military victory.