Feature: Lingering war spoils Afghans dreams of embracing a peaceful future

"I lost whatever I had in the deadly and devastating terrorist attack in Kabul last week," a Kabul resident Abdul Jamil, 45, told Xinhua.

A businessman and owner of several shops and a warehouse, Jamil described how all his goods were turned to ashes in the blast and left him with nothing to run his businesses.

"My shops and warehouse were destroyed due to the blast and what I have earned over the past several years was gone in a second," Jamil said dejectedly, adding "It is impossible for me to recover and resume my businesses."

A deadly suicide truck bomb and gunshots organized by the Taliban outfit on April 19 left 64 people, mostly civilians, dead and 347 others injured in downtown Kabul.

The attack, which targeted a compound belonging to the national intelligence agency, according to officials, also inflicted huge damages to properties in the area, worth more than 10 millions U.S. dollars.

The blast site reveals a picture of the utter havoc and devastation that war can cause in urban areas.

Along with the properties, several vehicles were blown up, including buses, mini-buses and cars and their remnants have been left scattered in and around the destroyed shops, houses and buildings.

"Nothing has been left for me to resume my business," Jamil, broken and downtrodden, said, adding that this deadly terrorist attack is not the first and won't be the last one.

The endless and senseless war will claim more lives in the coming weeks, months and years ahead, Jamil, now completely delated, predicted.

Criticizing the government for its alleged failure in curbing terrorism, Jamil said that the devastating offensive by the militant group in the fortified capital city of Kabul has "destroyed our hope" for embracing viable peace in the country.

"If the government couldn't to detect a truck bomb in the downtown city, how can it prevent terrorist activities in the countryside," Jamil quizzed.

A despondent Jamil, whose son was injured in the deadly blast, said that the repeated failure of the government in preventing the terror attacks has already weighed on citizens' hope for a peaceful future.

The deadly truck bombing in downtown Kabul, in the vicinity of Defense Ministry and Presidential Palace, on April 19, had prompted many Afghans including parliament to criticize the government, especially those at the helm of security affairs of the country.

To calm the critics, president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in his address at the rare joint session of parliament on April 25 described al-Qaida, Islamic State, foreign mercenaries and parts of the Taliban as the enemies of Afghanistan and vowed to annihilate them.

"It was a big bang and threw me a few meters and I lost consciousness only to wake up later that day in hospital," another Kabul resident, Zabihullah, 30, told Xinhua.

Recalling his horrific memories, Zabihullah said that suddenly a quake-like bang jolted his house and in a second caved in his home, wounding him and his two brothers.

"I have been suffering from poverty for so long and the deadly blast has further added to my miseries," Zabihullah said.

"We have nothing to rebuild our home and the government has yet to assist us," the dispirited man said softly.

"Enough is enough, it has been almost four decades that fighting has been continuing in Afghanistan and no end in the near future can be seen," the war-weary Zabihullah sighed, his tired eyes seemingly drained of hope. Enditem