Last week was "the deadliest" in 19 years of conflict in Afghanistan for the national security forces, the Taliban of which killed 291 members, a government official announced on Monday 22 June.
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“Last week was the deadliest of the past 19 years. The Taliban launched 422 attacks in 32 provinces, killing 291 members of the (security forces) and injuring 550 others, " Javid Faisal, spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC), a government body, wrote on Twitter. "The Taliban's commitment to reduce violence is meaningless, and their actions are incompatible with their rhetoric of peace," he said. The Taliban have rejected the latest government figures. " The enemy aims to undermine the peace process and the inter-Afghan talks by publishing such false reports, " spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP. "The enemy has suffered even more losses in the past, but today they deliberately present 10 or 50 (victims) as 500 to confuse public opinion (...) and delay the whole process, "he said. he adds.
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Violence has declined in Afghanistan since the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire in late May on Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. But Afghan officials say insurgent attacks have picked up again in recent weeks. The two camps, however, seem to be approaching the first peace negotiations, while President Ashraf Ghani has promised to complete the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners against a thousand members of the Afghan security forces held captive by the insurgents.
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Authorities, who have already released around 3,000 Taliban prisoners, plan to release another 2,000, as stipulated in the US-Taliban agreement signed in late February in Doha, not ratified by Kabul. The Taliban said they were ready for peace talks, but only after the release of the remaining 2,000 detainees.