Lynne O'Donnell

Afghanistan ended 2014 with a mixture of violence and hope on Wednesday, as a Taliban attack was thwarted, a policeman gunned down his comrades and one of the country’s leaders said he had convinced hundreds of insurgents to lay down their arms and support peace efforts.

The U.S. and NATO formally withdrew from Afghanistan after 13 years of war left the nation still riven by violence.

When brothers Amir and Mosha Jan joined Afghanistan’s police two years ago they believed that their patriotic duty was more important than obeying their father, who did not want his only sons joining the ranks of a police force on the front lines of the war against the Taliban.

President Ashraf Ghani has promised a complete overhaul of Afghanistan’s government to root out corruption and incompetence, but after three months in office, three missed deadlines and countless promises, he and his election rival-turned-deputy have yet to appoint a single Cabinet minister.

Taliban fighters staged an attack Thursday evening in an upscale district in the Afghan capital Kabul. Witnesses described multiple explosions and bursts of gunfire in the Wazir Akbar Khan district, which contains numerous foreign embassies and compounds housing international agencies and companies — as well as the homes of some senior Afghan government officials.