The Taliban has mounted attacks on at least 22 provinces on a daily basis across Afghanistan in the past week, TOLOnews reported citing a statement issued by the Afghan Ministry of Defense. 

The ministry also stated that over the last 24 hours the political-insurgent group conducted attacks and security-related activities in 22 provinces of the country. 

“The Taliban has kept violence very high, which is against the will of the people of Afghanistan,” said Fawad Aman, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Fawad also said the Afghan security forces are responding to the Taliban’s attacks and the insurgent group has also suffered heavy casualties. 

The Taliban’s continued attacks across the country show that the group has no genuine interest in seeking “political settlement” of the conflict, the deputy spokesperson said in the press conference. 

Usually, during the winter season, violence used to come down in Afghanistan but it is not the situation this year. A quarterly report by Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) indicated an increase of thirty percent in violence from July to September this year in comparison to the same period last year. 

Since September 12, the Afghan government and the Taliban have engaged in intra-Afghan negotiation in Doha, Qatar in a bid to end the forty-year long conflict in Afghanistan. Despite two and half months into the negotiation, two sides are yet to forge a consensus over a framework required for broader negotiations. 

“The warring sides, particularly the Taliban have escalated the level of violence to score points in the view of the peace process,” Asadullah Sikander, a military analyst, was quoted by TOLOnews. 

Earlier, speaking at the Herat Security Conference Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said that the Taliban was mistaken if they think of using violence as means to get concession in peace talks. 
 
The secretary-general of the United Nations also called for an immediate ceasefire in Afghanistan during the recently held Afghanistan Conference 2020 in Geneva.