Most attacks around the country are waged by the Taliban, who continue to embrace violence as leverage despite signing a peace deal with the United States that has been expected to lower the bloodshed in Afghanistan as the parties continue negotiations for a political settlement.

The peace process is hamstrung by disagreements between the Taliban and the Afghan government over a plan to exchange prisoners, a step meant to advance efforts to establish a power-sharing government among the Afghan sides. On Wednesday, negotiations took place via video conference to try to resolve the issue.

Still, the Taliban is continuing its deadly assaults, while Afghan security forces remain largely on the defensive in the hopes of encouraging the Taliban to cease their fire. On Wednesday, a vehicle carrying civilians was blown up by a roadside bomb in the Musa Qala district of southern Helmand Province, killing eight people, including children, local officials said.

Over the past week, just as the authorities warned that the spread of coronavirus in the country had become alarming and could infect millions, violence appeared to have intensified. In about a dozen provinces with coronavirus cases, the Taliban have launched more than 300 attacks over the past week, according to a Western military official who requested anonymity to share sensitive data.

In Herat province, identified as the epicenter of the virus in Afghanistan, the insurgents carried out about 40 attacks in the past week. At least five provinces with positive cases of coronavirus suffered 30 attacks or more in the past week.

An incomplete tally by The New York Times showed at least 40 attacks of the past week were deadly, with nearly 100 security force members and civilians killed in Taliban assaults. Two airstrikes by Afghan security forces — launched in response to Taliban attacks in Kunduz province — killed at least 14 civilians.

Herat’s lockdown was ordered after 32 new cases of coronavirus had been confirmed on Tuesday. Most of the city’s shops remained closed, and the streets deserted. Security forces were deployed to prevent gatherings of even small groups.