News Analysis: Recent Taliban attacks show that peace overtures by Kabul gov't not working

Far from being neutralized, the Taliban insurgents have launched daring attacks in the past couple of weeks even in capital Kabul dashing hopes of a peace dialogue between the insurgents and the unity government led by President Asraf Ghani.

The latest deadly attack by the Taliban was at the luxury Park Palace Hotel in downtown Kabul on Wednesday night.

In the bloody attack, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility, more than two dozen Afghan and foreign nationals were killed and several others injured. Among those killed were an American, an Italian, a Kazakh national and four Indians, the police said.

The clash with the security officers that ensued after the attack lasted up to Thursday morning.

Zabiullah Mujahid, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told the media that attack was carried out by a Taliban commandoes led by Mohammad Idress. He said that the mission was aimed at killing as many foreign nationals as possible.

Around 54 guests had been rescued by Afghan Special Forces, Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters after the clash was over Thursday morning.

Some Kabul residents have expressed their discontent and anger over the inability of the government to ensure security and peace for them. "To be frank, I don't feel secure even in my home. The recent spike in militancy and armed attacks has smashed my hope for a lasting peace in this country,"Kabul resident Rahmatullah, 55, told Xinhua on Friday.

Rahmatullah, who like most Afghans has only one name, said that if the foreign guests in a well-fortified luxury hotel in downtown Kabul are not safe from Taliban attacks, how can the safety of ordinary people be guaranteed? "We are fed up with so many suicide attacks, bomb blasts and unabated insurgency. The attack on Park Palace Hotel is not the first and won't be the last one,"Rahmatullah said.

During the past two weeks, the Taliban also launched suicide attacks against buses carrying employees of the Attorney General Office leaving dozens of prosecuting attorneys dead and injured.

Since April 24 when the armed group launched its annual so- called spring offensive in Afghanistan, the number of Taliban suicide attacks in the capital city Kabul and the provinces has increased.

Hajji Mehrabudin, another Kabul resident, noted that for 14 years, the 150,000-strong force of the U.S.-led military coalition failed to wipe out the Taliban and bring peace and security in Afghanistan. "It is next to impossible for the poorly-equipped Afghan security forces to solve the Taliban problem now that the foreign forces are gone,"Mehrabudin said.

Mehrabudin is almost resigned to the fact that the Taliban menace would continue despite efforts of the government to work out a peace agreement with them. "I am sure that conflicts won't come to an end in Afghanistan. Since my childhood the only thing I remember in this country is that successive governments have tried to work for peace with the insurgents but all of them failed. With the recent attacks, the recent peace overtures by the Ghani government are destined to fail,"Mehrabudin said. Endi