People take part in a demonstration calling for peace in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 18, 2019. Hundreds of Afghan people in the restive Nad Ali district of the southern Helmand province staged a peaceful demonstration on Monday and called upon the Taliban fighters to cease fighting and initiate dialogue with the government. The peaceful rally is taking place amid increasing fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters that claims dozens of lives almost every day in the militancy-plagued country. Bearing the banners inscribed with the slogans "We hate war", "We want peace" and "We want national reconciliation" in Afghanistan, demonstrators said that the Afghans have hugely suffered due to the protracted war and it is time for both the Taliban and the government to initiate dialogue and find negotiated settlement to the country's crisis. (Xinhua/Abdul Aziz Safdari)

KABUL, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Afghan people in the restive Nad Ali district of the southern Helmand province staged a peaceful demonstration on Monday and called upon the Taliban fighters to cease fighting and initiate dialogue with the government.

The peaceful rally is taking place amid increasing fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters that claims dozens of lives almost every day in the militancy-plagued country.

Bearing the banners inscribed with the slogans "We hate war", "We want peace" and "We want national reconciliation" in Afghanistan, demonstrators said that the Afghans have hugely suffered due to the protracted war and it is time for both the Taliban and the government to initiate dialogue and find negotiated settlement to the country's crisis.

"We the Afghans have suffered a lot. Enough is enough. It is the time for the Taliban and the government to find peaceful solution to Afghanistan's problems," a protestor named Qudratullah told Xinhua.

The Afghan government has been advocating for direct talks with the Taliban group. However, the Taliban has refused the offer, saying no talks would be held with the Afghan administration in the presence of foreign forces in the country.

"The war has destroyed our country and there is no logic to continue the war," another protestor and a resident of the conflict-riddled Nad Ali district, Sayed Jalal, told Xinhua.

More than 45,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed since 2014, according to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

Many Taliban militants and countless civilians have also lost their lives in the endless war in Afghanistan.