Hundreds of clerics from in Afghanistan’s Herat province on Tuesday appealed to the Afghan government and the Taliban to end the violence and announce a ceasefire in the country.

The clerics labeled the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan as ‘Muslim killing’ and said that the war has no legitimacy.

The Defense Ministry is preparing to increase special operations forces to face the Taliban in the upcoming fighting season this spring, Deputy Defense Minister Shah Mahmoud Miakhil said on Tuesday.

Miakhil said that special forces from the army, police and the NDS are preparing together and that no area in the country will face the threat of collapse.