HERAT: Afghan National Army (ANA) forces in the west of the country say a great opportunity for peace has been made available and the militants should cease violence and choose the path of peace.

Afghan officials say the insurgents needed to agree on peace because they had no other choice as Afghan forces would defend their country against the rebels until their last breath. “The war will ultimately come to an end, so they had better end it now and prevent the killing of people on both sides, as well as civilians,” they proposed.

Although the Afghan public has repeatedly asked for a reduction in violence from the Taliban and Qatar’s ongoing talks, the war still rages at high levels.

Gen. Abdul Raouf Arghandiwal, commander of the 207th Zafar Military Corps of the in the west, said that the Taliban should stop insurgency as it would help restore public trust in peace and pave the way for the success of intra-Afghan talks.

He said that even if the Taliban continued violence, Afghan forces would not stop resisting them in any areas of the country.

On the other hand, Afghan soldier Abdul Sammad also said that it was high time for the militants to stop the violence that took the lives of innocent people and fighters on both sides.

He said that only Afghans were the victims of this war and security forces were not interested in war but had to resist the Taliban attacks.

Shoaib and Fida Mohammad are two other Afghan soldiers who sent a message to the Taliban to pursue the way of peace. They said that the insurgents would not be able to win militarily and it would only add to miseries and nonstop violence, which no side could get benefit out of.

Intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan representatives were launched on September 12 but no tangible advances have so far been made. However, Afghans hope that the negotiations would one day bring the four-decade war to an end.