At least 29 Taliban insurgents laid down arms and joined the peace process in western Farah and central Uruzgan provinces this week, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said in a statement on Tuesday.

“A group of 18 armed Taliban fighters renounced violence and surrendered to the Afghan National Police after their commander was killed in Tokhi village, Dehrawood district, Uruzgan province,” read the statement.

According to the statement the group was involved in “planning and coordinating suicide attacks, and carrying out other destructive and terrorist activities in Dehrawood.”

This comes after a group of 11 armed Taliban fighters also renounced violence and joined the peace process in Bala Bolok district of Farah after the group handed over their weapons to security forces, the statement read.

“The group handed over 11 weapons and an amount of ammunition,” it added.