The hope for restoring lasting peace in Afghanistan has been jeopardized amid increasing insurgency in the country and constant delay in holding intra-Afghan talks to find negotiated settlement to the country's lingering crisis, locals say.

Taliban militants targeted the office of National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's intelligence agency in a deadly car bombing in Aybak city, capital of northern Samangan province on Monday, killing 14 people and injuring 63 others.

According to provincial government spokesman Sediq Azizi, 11 NDS staff were among those killed.

The attack was widely condemned as a cowardly terrorist act.

"The terrorist attack on Aybak city demonstrates Taliban resolve for pushing for war and violence," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement released by the Presidential Palace.

In the statement, the president warned that "pushing for war and violence would damage the peace process."

The attack in Aybak city was the deadliest one claimed by the Taliban since the militant outfit inked a peace deal with the United States on February 29 in Qatar's capital Doha. The deal was meant to initiate intra-Afghan dialogues, facilitate the withdrawal of the U.S.-led foreign forces and end the war in Afghanistan.