India, March 8 -- The hope of tranquillity returning to war-torn Afghanistan following the peace deal signed between the Taliban and the US, sans important stakeholder - the ruling Afghan Government - at the end of the last month has been dashed as the Taliban resumed attacks against Government forces after it declined to release Taliban prisoners.

Following nine rounds of discussions, the negotiators had reached the peace agreement that addresses four main issues: Ceasefire, withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, intra-Afghan negotiations and finally, counter-terrorism assurances from the Taliban. The deal was signed by US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the political chief of the Taliban Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, with the ...