JALALABAD -- At a bustling outdoor market in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, farmers tend to long-haired goats and customers choose an animal to slaughter for the upcoming Eid ul Adha.
But a key question looms over preparations: is peace about to come to Afghanistan, or will four decades of war continue unabated?
"We are thirsty for peace in Afghanistan. Every day, large numbers of our people are getting killed," local resident Sayed Jan said. "We are celebrating Eid with sad news."
Like many Afghans, Jan remembers a short cease-fire between the Taliban and Afghan forces during last year's Eid ul Fitr, when the wartime foes put down guns and exchanged greetings.
![This photo taken August 8 shows a man looking over livestock feeding at an outdoor market set up for Eid ul Adha in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province. [Noorullah Shirzada/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2019/08/09/19392-000_1jf3gq-739_416.webp)
This photo taken August 8 shows a man looking over livestock feeding at an outdoor market set up for Eid ul Adha in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province. [Noorullah Shirzada/AFP]
![A wounded Afghan man (left) walks in a corridor of Isteqlal Hospital in Kabul after a Taliban car bomb detonated at the entrance of a police station in Kabul on August 7, killing at least 14 and wounding 145 others. [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]](/cnmi_st/images/2019/08/09/19393-000_1jd6g2-739_416.webp)
A wounded Afghan man (left) walks in a corridor of Isteqlal Hospital in Kabul after a Taliban car bomb detonated at the entrance of a police station in Kabul on August 7, killing at least 14 and wounding 145 others. [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]
![Zarqawi (left), a Taliban commander in Nangarhar Province, talks to local residents and Afghan security forces last year June 16. He called the Eid ul Fitr cease-fire 'one of the good memories in my life.' [Khalid Zerai]](/cnmi_st/images/2019/08/09/19394-img_5998-739_416.webp)
Zarqawi (left), a Taliban commander in Nangarhar Province, talks to local residents and Afghan security forces last year June 16. He called the Eid ul Fitr cease-fire 'one of the good memories in my life.' [Khalid Zerai]
This year, the United States and the Taliban are widely believed to be in the final stretch of a push for a peace deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
However, even as the negotiations have appeared to progress, the battlefield and civilian toll has continued to climb, with July the deadliest month for more than two years, and it remains unclear when a ceasefire may come.
Taliban disdain a truce
A much-anticipated Eid greeting from the Taliban's top leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, on Thursday (August 8) made no mention of the truce that many Afghans long for.
"The Taliban should sit with the Afghan government for a peace agreement, and they should announce a ceasefire during Eid," said Hamim Sadiq, another local resident.
"The Afghan people should celebrate Eid in peace. We have lost everything during more than 40 years of war," Sadiq said.
Jalalabad is an area of the country that has deeply suffered. Aside from Taliban fighting, the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) has maintained a stubborn presence here since 2015 and the city has been the scene of frequent attacks.
On Wednesday (August 7), at the market in Jalalabad, customers examined the wide selection of goats, which ranged in size and colour. Some had been daubed bright pink, while others had lanky black hair.
Within a few days, almost all will be slaughtered and eaten for Eid ul Adha.
