Following reports that the Taliban’s senior leadership had agreed to a 7-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan, Salam Rahimi, the state minister for peace affairs, on Thursday rejected the alleged Taliban position, calling it "unacceptable" for the Afghan government, and insisted that the insurgent group must agree to a ceasefire before engaging in intra-Afghan talks.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday said that the Afghan government failed to assess some cases of human rights violations and failed to arrest the alleged perpetrators of those violations.