The Taliban said on Wednesday, in a rare statement to the American people, they wanted to end Afghanistan’s 17-year war through talks while warning the message should not be seen as a sign of weakness and the fight against US forces would go on.

Taliban insurgents issued an astounding 17,000-word appeal to the "American people." The letter emailed to the media in English and four other languages contained official statistics about the human and economic costs of war.

The letter, sent under the banner of "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," was issued just weeks after a blitz of deadly insurgent attacks in the Afghan capital.

A more aggressive US strategy in Afghanistan including a surge in air strikes introduced by President Donald Trump in August has pushed the Taliban back from several district centers and two provincial capitals.

But the militants control large parts of the countryside and have responded to the more aggressive US strategy with two attacks in Kabul in the past few weeks, killing nearly 150 people.

The attacks have toughened both the US and Afghan governments’ stand against initiating talks with the insurgents, although neither side seems capable of winning the conflict.

“Our preference is to solve the Afghan issue through peaceful dialogue,” the Taliban said.

"Prolonging the war in Afghanistan and maintaining American troop presence is neither beneficial for America nor for anyone else," the letter said.

"Stubbornly seeking the protraction of this war will have dreadful consequences for the region and the stability of America herself," the document added.

"As confirmed by your own military authorities, 3546 American and foreign soldiers have been killed, more than 20,000 American forces injured and tens of thousands more are suffering mentally," the letter said, asserting that the actual casualty figures were much higher but were being "concealed" by the U.S. leaders.

The overall message of these arguments was that the American people should make a "rational" assessment of the war.

"You proclaim to be a developed and civilized nation. We leave it to your judgment to decide whether the prevailing conditions of insecurity, chaos and soaring drug problems in Afghanistan constitute reforms or crimes against humanity," it concluded.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and defeat the US-backed government, said the United States must end its “occupation” and accept the Taliban right to form a government “consistent with the beliefs of our people”.

In their statement, the Taliban did not mention a January 27 raids on a top Kabul hotel, in which more than 30 people were killed, nor a bomb attack on a crowded street a week later that killed more than 100. They claimed both attacks.

The militants only mentioned the Afghan government to deride it on various grounds. A government spokesman declined to comment on the statement.

A spokesman for Afghanistan’s NATO-led military mission said the recent Taliban attacks on civilians demonstrated they were not ready to enter “good-faith peace negotiations” while the government had on numerous occasions made clear it was willing to begin a peace process.

“The Taliban statement alone does not show willingness to engage in peace talks. The recent attacks speak louder than these words,” said the spokesman, Captain Tom Gresback.

The Taliban said it was not too late for the American people to realise the Taliban can solve problems with every side “through healthy politics and dialogue”, adding the chances for dialogue were “not exhausted”.

Preliminary talks on ending the war that kills thousands of people each year have stalled.

But low-level contacts between the government, international groups including the United Nations and groups close to the Taliban have continued even as the insurgency has escalated. The Taliban said their willingness to play a “constructive role in finding a peaceful solution” should not be taken as a sign of weakness.

“This can never mean that we are exhausted or our will has been sapped,” they said.

They said they had no intention to damage any other country or let anyone use Afghan territory against anyone else.