A report by a Turkish news agency shows that almost 200 Afghan civilians were killed during the holy month of Ramadan as the Taliban and other insurgent groups are refraining to agree on a ceasefire despite repeated calls by the Afghan government, the international community and the members of the public.

Figures compiled by Anadolu Agency suggests that an additional 300 civilians were wounded in a series of IED blasts, suicide attacks, targeted killings in Helmand, Ghazni, Nangarhar, Jawzjan, Paktika, Ghor, Badghis, Zabul, Kunduz, Herat, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, Kapisa, Baghlan, Maidan Wardak, and Kabul provinces in Ramadan which started on May 6.

The last two days of Ramadan, June 2 and 3 witnessed five IED blasts which left seven people dead and more than 20 others wounded. In a recent incident on Monday, June 3, an IED explosion targeted employees of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission, leaving five dead. 

The Anadolu News Agency’s research shows that Kabul city alone was rocked by three terrorist attacks in the last week of May, killing six soldiers and five civilians, while injuring over 20 civilians. 

However, Ghazni remained the most volatile province of all 34 provinces in the country this month, the report says. 

According to the report, during Ramadan, 33 Afghan children and 14 women were killed, while 34 more children and 9 women got injured in different violent incidents.

The Taliban refused to agree on a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan instead, they increased their attacks. 

On June 2, the group captured Bala Murghab district in northwestern Badghis province and set on fire the district governor’s office as well as the police headquarters as a member of the Badghis Provincial Council described.

On June 1, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement that more than 100 Taliban fighters, most of them from the so-called red unit of the group, were killed in Afghan Army operations in Ghazni province in the center of Afghanistan. A day after the operation, a Humvee bombing targeted a security facility in the province which reportedly had some casualties.  

This comes as presidential candidate and former head of the National Directorate of Security, Rahmatullah Nabil, said at a press conference on Sunday, June 1, that the Taliban does not believe in peace and democracy and that the group is seeking power in Afghanistan.