Soviet Union

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Over 100 people participated in this rally for peace in Kunduz-city -

flutters An Afghan flag over the busy roundabout, the centre of Kunduz city marked. To guard up, a police officer in the vicinity tells me that, when the Taliban briefly The City , to replace one of its first actions was conquered, The Flag with their own white and black banner. You have done so twice in the last five years.

Behind us, in a corner of The Square , a poster shows the pictures of the senior police officials killed at a suicide attack during a further attack by the rebels in August last year.

For Now , however, the traffic circle is host to a small demonstration in support of peace of about 100 Young Men . Patriotic songs blast from a Speaker - someone in The Crowd holding a large bunch of balloons with "I love you" written on it.

"We have, in support of peace," says Zahid, one of the protesters. "I'm so happy. In the last few days, it is quiet in Kunduz and across the country. We want a ceasefire that lasts forever. "

A week-long "reduction in violence" comes to an end in Afghanistan after the Taliban, Afghan army and US-led international forces agreed not to launch attacks against each other, for Seven Days .

The time was largely successful, and the US and the Taliban look set to be the signing of an agreement on Saturday in Qatar. It is the definition of a time will not permit a plan for the withdrawal of the American troops in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban, that groups like al-Qaeda to operate in their territory.

It is a very significant development, the aims of The Peace process, and the end of America's longest-ever war, and it raised the hopes among A War weary Afghan population.

Nasirullah saw a part of his possessions in the Taluka destroyed in a Taliban raid

have seen The rural areas in The Outskirts of Kunduz, fierce fighting. We travel to The Village of Taluka, recently recaptured by the government, after being in Taliban hands for The Past three years.

The school was wiped out by an Air Strike on the militants, who used it as a base

Nasirullah, an elderly man from Next Door , saw a part of his property destroyed.

"Four Taliban fighters over The Wall and climbed up," he says, "I told them to go away, but she Refused . "

Everyone in The Village wants to show us, the devastation in their homes. Many of The Residents are yet to move back to in. The Afghan army has helped clear land mines, but some still remain.

another elderly resident, points to a huge indentation in a wall of his house, caused by a grenade.

"I was sitting there with my wife. She was injured here," he says, grabbing his neck. "Another rocket landed there. I don't have The Money to rebuild all this. "

But hope is full. "I have a TV, and I follow the news," he tells me. "Always, if I Hear that there will be peace, and my heart fills with Joy . "

The US-Taliban Treaty is a step in the direction of peace, but a complete cease-fire, along with the political future of the country, is something that must be built in separate talks between the Taliban and the other Afghan leaders. These talks will be to follow the signing in Qatar and could no longer last for months, if not

children in Kunduz are accustomed to The Sound of gunfire

Add the complication of an ongoing dispute over the results of the presidential elections. but his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah , has alleged fraud and threatened to his own, parallel government.

whether or not the "containment of violence" will continue throughout the "intra-Afghan" talks, as they are known, was not made public. At an army checkpoint, the invaders through The Eastern entrance to The City of Kunduz, the soldiers check for the Taliban, concerned that they might with the sub-weapons have a standstill to smuggle explosives inside.

Salahuddin Safai, 32, lives nearby with his family. On average, he says to me, the Taliban attack the checkpoint at least every fourteen days, surging to the front of the field, directly behind his house.

Mr Safai said his small children accustomed to The Sounds of the shots, but he's worried about the impact on their Mental Health .

Salahuddin Safai says the Taliban to launch regular attacks

He is confident that peace will come, but be careful at the same time. The Family have seen the false dawns. After the U.S. overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, they went back to Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan, where he lived in a refugee camp think the country would flourish. Instead, they found themselves trapped along The Fluid fronts in A War in which tens of thousands of Afghans died.

"If we have similar things happened to our view of The Past ," he says. "If the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan, there were peace negotiations, but they failed. A Civil War began and the country became what it is Now . "

He was referring to what many see as one of the worst episodes in Afghanistan's history, if The Rival mujahedin groups had successfully fought the battle against the Soviet invasion, both against The Afghan Communist government and makes each other in a brutal pursuit.

"We are a little skeptical of this process but God, the story is not repeated," said Mr Safai me says.

Ghayasuddin lost both his legs when he stepped on a landmine laid by the Taliban

There are concerns as to what price the Afghans could, for The Peace . Whether the Taliban accept that the country is currently democratic system, and the progress of women's rights in the last two decades.

The Group insisted that you believe studying that women should be allowed to work, but the locals tell us, to study in some of the villages in the vicinity of Kunduz under the control of the Taliban, girls are prevented from, if you are a teenager.

For the other hand, however, the priority is an end to the violence. Ghayasuddin, in his 70s, from The Village of Taluka, lost both legs when he stepped on a landmine by the Taliban.

he Could ever forgive me, I ask?

"If you are going to have to see our neighbor and I to accept you," he replies. "Everything I have is in this village there is no choice, but to learn To Live with them. "

afghanistan, taliban

Source of news: bbc.com