KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan president on Tuesday urged insurgents to abandon violence and accept offers of reconciliation from the government, using the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha to issue a plea for peace.

President Hamid Karzai spoke a day after Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar distributed a holiday message of his own, saying that insurgents plan to increase operations nationwide and denying once again any efforts at rapprochement with the Afghan government. On Tuesday, insurgent attacks killed two Afghans with government links and two NATO service members.

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