There were certain expectations in the beginning of the new year that some sort of negotiation with Taliban may start and there may be some positive development towards peace; however, all those expectations do not seem to be bearing any fruit as the peace talks with Taliban are nowhere to be found and the fighting season has already started.
There are serious security challenges in different parts of the country. Heavy clashes are going on in Uruzgan, Kunduz, Baghlan and Farah between Taliban insurgents and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) nowadays, and they may continue for some time to come unless there is some sort of seize fire which does not seem probable. The security situation in other parts of the country does not seem satisfactory as well.
Taliban do not seem to be in a mood for negotiation; not at least now as they claim they are ready for the fight. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah said in a statement on Saturday, April 16, "The war continues. It means that the Taliban still believes in a military solution. They [Taliban] however in some places, at the sideline of some conferences as well as official and unofficial meetings say that war is not a solution."
Mostly, Taliban intensify their offensive during the spring season which is called as Spring Offensive and this year they may continue it as well and pose serious threats to ANSF. ANSF will have to deal with several clashes in different parts of the country simultaneously and this they have to do without much support of the international security forces.
Afghan government is also aware of the fact that their potential will be tested during this year’s Spring Offensive. President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday, April 16, had a video conference with governors, police chiefs and other officials from 34 provinces and directed them to prioritize security and the fight against the enemy – in their relevant provinces.
According to a press statement issued by the president's office, in this video conference, the officials briefed Ghani on their activities and security situations in their relevant provinces. Ghani meanwhile said military operations carried out by Afghan security and defense forces are going well against militants in parts of the country. He also directed governors, religious scholars, tribal elders and the people to condemn and stand against the "imposed war" in their relevant provinces; because, according to him, terrorists target children, women, Ulema (religious scholars) and other civilians.
It is extremely important that the security officials in different parts of the country should be encouraged and motivated at this crucial juncture but it also imperative that they should be provided enough and timely support from the center whenever required. On various occasions when the security forces faced enemies in different clashes and they required the support from the center they were not provided such support on time and therefore they had to face temporary setback. The fall of Kunduz was one of the main examples. Currently, as well the officials in Baghlan province require the support from Kabul, which should be provided to them on time so as to avoid any serious consequence.
It has to be observed closely that the threatening insecurity is not only influencing the lives of the security officials but the civilians as well. Afghan government, therefore, has to keep in consideration as well that as a result of decades of instability and socio-economic and political problems, the Afghan people have been suffering from myriads of problems. Though there have been certain important improvements made in the last decade or so, some very concerning issues still exist that threaten the lives of the common people of Afghanistan. There are claims that changes have been brought within Afghan society; however, it should be noted that if the effectiveness of the changes have to be felt or observed, they should be observed by the changes in the lives of the common people. If there is any change in the condition of living of the common people as the outcome of the change; the change should be guarded for and even backed and supported vehemently. If not, either the claim must be discarded as wrong or the efforts should be improved to make the changes effective. And that is what Afghanistan needs to do – it has to improve its efforts to bring about necessary changes in the lives of the common people that have been jeopardized both by insecurity and lack of rudimentary requirements of life.  
Afghan government must therefore get serious in tackling with the issue of the insecurity and at the same time strive to provide at least the rudimentary requirements of life to people as they can also play a tremendous role in fighting against the insurgents. If the people are sure that the present government can strive honestly to provide them their necessities they will definitely join hands together along with the security forces to fight terrorists and terrorism successfully.