The Doha meeting on the relentless turmoil in Afghanistan has been reduced to a fizzle yet again. And it is a measure of the international response to that failure that as many as 15 diplomatic missions and the Nato representative in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Monday to halt their military offensives just hours after the rival Afghan sides failed to agree on a ceasefire at a peace meeting. And yet again, no representative of the government in Kabul was present at the high table in the Qatari capital.

There is no scope for even faint optimism, not the least because of the fundamental disunity amongst the stakeholders. The Taliban appears to be in no mood to effect a comedown, let alone strive towards a halfway-house.

A delegation of Afghan leaders met the Taliban’s political leadership in the Qatari capital over the weekend but in a statement late last Sunday, the militant group made no mention of a halt to Afghanistan’s escalating violence.

“This Eid al-Adha, the Taliban should lay down their weapons for good and show the world their commitment to the peace process,” the 15 missions and the Nato representative said, referring to this week’s public holiday in Afghanistan.

The statement was supported by Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the European Union delegation, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Britain and the United States and Nato’s senior civilian representative.

It was altogether a positive international response to a festering crisis in Afghanistan. During Eid holidays in recent years, the Taliban have called brief ceasefires, saying it wanted to let Afghans spend some time in peace ~ historically an elusive quantity.

This year, however, there has been no such announcement as the Taliban has made swift territorial gains in near-unprecedented levels of fighting nationwide, even as US-led foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of fighting.

Taliban claims to want a ceasefire, but continues its military campaign throughout Afghanistan. The statement also condemned rights violations, such as efforts to shut schools and media outlets in areas recently captured by the Taliban. The militants have previously denied such actions.

The surge persists barely two months before the scheduled US pullout.

The Taliban said on Monday that it had captured the Dehrawood district in Uruzgan province, south-west of Kabul. In a statement, the Taliban said: “Both sides agreed upon the need for the peace talks, in order to find a fair and permanent solution for the current issue in Afghanistan as soon as possible.”

Peace talks between the Taliban and prominent Afghans from the government side ~ the militants have refused to recognize or talk to the US-backed government ~ started in September last year but have failed to make any progress.

The purported negotiations towards an elusive peace have reached a cul-de-sac.