Afghanistan’s security forces have suffered their bloodiest week so far in the 19-year-old Afghan war.    The Afghanistan’s National Security Council said 291 members of Afghan National and Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) were killed and 550 others wounded in multiple Taliban attacks last week.    “Taliban carried out 422 attacks in 32 provinces, martyring 291 ANDSF members and wounding 550 others. Taliban’s commitment to reduce violence is meaningless, and their actions inconsistent with their rhetoric on peace,” tweeted Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the NSC.   The NSC statement also said that at least 42 civilians, including women and children, were killed and 105 others were wounded in the violence Taliban committed across 18 provinces in the past week.    The statement comes at a time when hopes are high for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, a term used for negotiations between the Taliban and a representative group of other Afghans including the government, political factions, and civil society activists.   FILE – Afghan National Army soldiers keep watch at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 29, 2020.“We haven’t seen the reduction in violence that we expect and that we think is necessary to really underpin the peace efforts, but we call on the Taliban to reduce violence. We call of course on Taliban to, in a constructive way, engage in intra-Afghan negotiations,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last week, following a meeting with NATO defense ministers.    On Sunday, the head of United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, met Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, head of the Taliban political team in Doha.    “The UN envoy for #Afghanistan highlighted the need for a just peace that was inclusive of all Afghans, including women, youth and minorities,” a Tweet from the official UNAMA account said.    .FILE – Members of a Taliban negotiating team enter the venue hosting U.S.-Taliban talks in the Qatari capital Doha, Aug. 29, 2019.The international community’s efforts to resolve both issues seems to be bearing fruit. The first round of the negotiation is expected at the end of this month in Doha, although the coronavirus pandemic has created another logistical hurdle.  
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