A presidential aide has asked the Taliban to honour the commitments to peace before making fresh demands. Over the past two years, the government had taken a string of steps towards peace, Waheed Omer told reporters here on Saturday.

Three Taliban militants have been killed, five wounded and four others detained during security forces’ operations in northern Balkh and Samangan provinces, said the 209th Shaheen Military Corps on Sunday.

Suspected militants gunned down a religious scholar inside his home in southern Kandahar province on Sunday, police said.

Thirty-six militants have been killed and five others injured during security forces operation in the Arghandab district of southern Kandahar province, an official said on Sunday.

National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib on Sunday said political appointments and promotions in security forces should be strictly avoided in order to protect the rights of all security personnel.

The European Union and other diplomatic missions in Afghanistan including Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and NATO, all called out the Taliban on Sunday and demanded an end to the violence and to the destruction of vital infrastructure installations.

International troops plan to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline envisaged by the insurgent Taliban’s deal with the United States, four senior NATO officials told Reuters. The move could however escalate tensions with the Taliban which is demanding a full withdrawal.

During talks with a visiting Taliban delegation, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Sunday called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

Members of the Afghan Republic’s religious delegation of the peace talks team on Sunday met with leaders of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Doha to discuss the peace process.

Naqibullah Fayaq, governor of Faryab province, said that Iranian-made armor-piercing Heidar sniper rifles are being used by the Taliban in the north-western province. According to Fayaq, the “Taliban use Heidar weapons that can pierce armored vehicles.”