Afghanistan has urged the Saudi government to play a proactive role in achieving a lasting ceasefire in the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar, who recently held wide-ranging talks with his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan, issued the call in an interview.

At least 38 militants have been killed in a security operation in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province.

Four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and six Taliban militants have been killed in two separate incidents of violence in northern Faryab province, sources said on Sunday.

Former police chief of northwestern Faryab province, Nizamuddin Qaisari, has recently said he supports the current democratic system and claims the authorities of northern Balkh province are conspiring against him. The Balkh governor on the other hand warned of serious action in case Qaisari committed any illegal activity.

The Civilian Protection Working Group (CPWG) on Sunday expressed concern over increasing civilian casualties in the conflict in western Herat province, saying thousands of families would be forced to leave their homes if the situation did not improve.

The Afghan general consul in Dubai, Masoud Azizi, said that 28 were sent to Kabul this week. At least 200 Afghan nationals have been released from Dubai prisons with the help of the Afghan consulate over the last eight months, officials from the consulate said on Sunday.

Authorities in Afghanistan say they have rearrested 600 members of the Taliban who were freed from imprisonment as part of a peace-building agreement between the United States and the insurgent group. Afghanistan’s national security adviser, Hamdullah Mohib, made the announcement Sunday, alleging the men in question had returned to the battlefield to plot deadly attacks against government forces and civilians.

Taliban militants have been battered in the southern Kandahar province as 38 were killed amid the call for a truce in the northern Kunduz as fighting gets momentum in both the restive provinces.

The Ministry of Defense says that 56 insurgents have been killed in clashes with security forces in different parts of the country in the past 24 hours. Mod stated, that Taliban fighters had gathered in different parts of the Arghandab district of Kandahar province yesterday to attack the positions of the security forces.

President Ashraf Ghani has said that Kabul-Islamabad ties are weak and the Taliban should cut their ties with Pakistan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Pakistan and other countries with a stake in Afghanistan’s future to put pressure on the Taliban to agree to a reduction in violence, a ceasefire and to cut their ties with terrorist groups.