Two months after the US and the Taliban signed a deal Washington heralded as the way to end Afghanistan's war, violence is spiralling out of control and experts say a fragile peace process risks collapse.
Dozens of Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters have been dying almost daily with civilian casualties rising across the country as both sides ramp up operations.
The insurgents have been emboldened by a deal that gave them many concessions in exchange for few commitments, fuelling their surge of attacks in recent weeks, analysts say.
The timing could hardly be worse, as Afghanistan also grapples with a coronavirus epidemic.
The peace "process isn't dead yet, but it is on life support", said Ashley Jackson, a researcher at the Overseas Development Institute.
"It's anyone's guess how much time we have before it does begin to irrevocably fall apart."
An Afghan official said that on average, the Taliban have launched 55 attacks each day since the deal signing in Doha on February 29, while a UN agency reported that Afghan forces are causing more child deaths than the insurgents—mainly from air strikes and shelling.
Analysts say the bloodshed was predictable—or inevitable—given the wording of the deal and the sweeping concessions the US granted its foe of more than 18 years.
