CHARDARA, Afghanistan — In the end, the truce was too short.

At sunset on Sunday, the final day of an unprecedented three-day cease-fire in the bloody Afghan conflict, Mohammed Islam, a Taliban fighter, stopped his motorcycle to say goodbye to Mohammed Edris, the Afghan police officer in charge of the bridge leading to the contested Chardara district in northern Kunduz Province. The two hugged.

Soon, these two men will find themselves with orders to attack, and with orders to defend. But for a brief moment, as they said their goodbyes on the bridge, they had experienced the possibilities of a reality other than war.

Before he drove off, Mr. Islam, 22, scrawny and with a long nose, described the joys of roaming the urban center of Kunduz city for three days during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr. He has been with the Taliban for three years, and in all that time had not made it to the city.

“I had the kebabs, I had the sheeryakh ice cream, I hugged the police, I hugged the army ones — all of it was pleasant,” Mr. Islam said. “The people were very happy with the peace. Nothing comes of fighting. It’s all loss.”