A security source reported to Al-Jazeera that two people were killed after an explosive device was detonated in front of Kabul University (west of the Afghan capital), while Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed the importance of diplomacy for the success of the peace process in Afghanistan.

In recent weeks, Kabul has witnessed a series of attacks with small magnetic bombs attached to the bottom of cars, and assassinations of members of the security forces, officials, judges, civil society activists and journalists.

Violence has escalated in parts of Afghanistan recently as peace talks between the government and Taliban fighters have largely stalled, while US President Joe Biden's administration reviews how to manage the peace process, including the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Afghan military officials indicated that local security forces and the Taliban are preparing to fight again in the spring.

During the Ghani and Blinken contact, the two sides discussed bilateral relations and the Afghan peace process.

An Afghan presidential statement said that Blinken praised the sacrifices the Afghan forces made in fighting terrorism, as he put it.

For his part, Ghani said that the Afghan government and people have a strong will to make the peace process succeed and achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan.

According to the statement, the two sides stressed the importance of regional and international diplomacy for the success of the peace process.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul, Maan al-Khader, said that the situation in Afghanistan is on a hot plate, politically, militarily and security-wise.

Afghan forces at the site of one of the deadly bombings that rocked Kabul (Reuters)

Reducing violence

In a related context, Al-Khidr said - quoting a high-ranking Afghan source - that the US administration had proposed to the Afghan government a 3-month reduction in violence in Afghanistan.

The Afghan source told Al-Jazeera that the Afghan government believes that a three-month ceasefire will provide an opportunity to discuss political issues and the peace process.

These discussions came on the sidelines of a meeting held in Kabul earlier this week, which included the leaders of the intelligence services of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, the United States and 6 countries from Central Asia.

The meeting discussed setting up a strategy to confront terrorism and extremism in the region.

For his part, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy for political affairs in the Taliban movement, called on Washington to fully commit to implementing the Doha Agreement.

Brader indicated - in a statement directed to the American people ahead of the meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels - to the Taliban's pledge that Afghanistan would not be a source of threat to others.

For his part, the Afghan Acting Minister of Defense Shah Mahmoud Miakhel sent a letter to NATO leaders calling on them to make their decision to stay or withdraw based on the fact that the Taliban continued their violent approach and their relationship with Al Qaeda, as he put it.

Meeting and errands

This comes at a time when the defense ministers of NATO countries will continue their meeting for the second day to discuss the tasks of the alliance and its forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is scheduled to announce the Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, the decision of the member states to extend the stay of NATO forces in Afghanistan beyond the first of next May.

Regarding Iraq, Stoltenberg is expected to announce an increase in the number of NATO forces there, at the request of the Iraqi government.

In parallel with these developments, the Afghan Ministry of Defense said that its forces liberated 24 detainees from the Afghan forces, including special forces, during a military operation targeting a prison run by Taliban militants in Aktash district of Kunduz province (north of the country).

The statement added that the Afghan Special Forces had arrested a number of prison guards.

The Taliban did not comment on the military operation yet.