KABUL — President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan proposed a cease-fire with the Taliban on Sunday, extending a trust-building measure to the insurgents before the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha this week.

“I announce a conditional cease-fire starting from tomorrow, Monday, until Nov. 21, birthday of the prophet Mohammed,’’ Ghani said from Darul-Aman Palace on Sunday during celebrations for Independence Day.

“If the Taliban also announce and observe the cease-fire, it will continue,’’ he said.

There was no immediate response from the Taliban, but Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said the group had identified hundreds of prisoners for release Monday, so that “they can share the happiness of Eid with their families and friends.’’

Insurgents in the country have been staging a charm offensive of sorts in advance of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic Feast of Sacrifice, as many in the country expressed hope that the Taliban and the government would join a cease-fire and hold peace talks.

In the past week alone, the insurgents have overrun cities, burned down government facilities, hidden in civilians’ homes, and killed hundreds of their opponents.

But the group has been actively seeking for weeks to court Afghan civilians, promising last month to halt suicide bombings in civilian areas, and announcing on Twitter and other social networks that those who surrendered would not be harmed.

When the northern district of Bilchiragh in Faryab province was captured by the Taliban late Saturday, the militants promised the last 50 government defenders that they would be freed if they surrendered.

When the government supporters capitulated, the insurgents allowed the Bilchiragh district’s police chief, Ahmad Shah Khan, to speak by phone with a reporter.

“I am with the Taliban now,’’ he said. “We negotiated through tribal elders, and the result is they will release the whole personnel of the district, and me, too.’’

As the Taliban besieged the capital of Ghazni province, Ghazni city, beginning Aug. 10, they offered amnesty to Afghan security forces there, going so far as to share phone numbers and e-mail addresses on Twitter to reach the insurgents.

They said they would treat those who surrendered as “brothers,’’ and would give them protection. Central to the effort are Taliban fighters who send reports from the battlefield for inclusion in propaganda.

During a quiet period in the Taliban effort to take over Ghazni this month, half a dozen insurgents walked up a mostly empty street in a Ghazni neighborhood, moving toward a young man speaking on the phone outside his house.

“They are here,’’ the man said into the phone as the insurgents approached him. He nervously put his phone away.

One of the insurgents shifted a loaded rocket-propelled grenade launcher to his right hand, and with his left he recorded his encounter with the man, which was later posted on an insurgent Facebook account.

“Are you happy with the mujahedeen?’’ the fighter asked.

“We want to see one side in charge,’’ the civilian said. “This side or the other side, everyone is tired of war.’’

Fatiullah Qaisari, a member of the Afghan Parliament’s Defense Committee, said the insurgents were using such vox populi campaigns to improve their standing in case peace negotiations come to fruition.

“They’ll use it to say, ‘See, people like us, and they are happy with the Taliban presence in their area,’ ’’ Qaisari said. “In reality, people are too afraid of them to say anything against them.’’

But even as they sought to project consideration for civilians, the Taliban were rampaging through Ghazni.

In their six-day attack, they set fire to buildings and marketplaces, and attacked police and government positions. The insurgents repeatedly told civilians that they would not be harmed, but then took over their homes and shops to fight from them, killing 155 members of security forces.

There were also 50 to 70 civilians killed, with attacks from both sides. Many of those civilians died in airstrikes on Taliban positions; the Ghazni Red Cross estimated that at least 24 perished in US and Afghan airstrikes to push out the insurgents last week.

When the insurgents burned down buildings in Ghazni, they explained to residents that they were punishing displays of wealth and privilege. Setting a courthouse ablaze, one insurgent explained: “We don’t need such fancy buildings. We hold our courts out in the desert.’’

Bilchiragh was at least the fifth rural district to be captured by the Taliban since their attack on Ghazni city. The other four, in Ghazni province, fell last week. The group is now believed to have control or influence in more than 60 of the 407 districts across the country.