Intensifying Violence Dulls Afghans’ Hopes for Peace

A return visit to Taliban strongholds in rural Afghanistan reveals that hopes for peace last year’s brief ceasefire sparked have dimmed amid growing violence – despite progress in peace talks.

I travelled the war-torn districts of rural Afghanistan in June, searching for a lost feeling.

I had visited the same rural areas a year earlier during the brief ceasefire that stretched through three magical days of June 2018.

It was the first nation-wide ceasefire in the two decades since the…

Taliban fighters hugged their enemies, joining members of the…