<p><a href="/en/afganistan/kabul" class="glossify-link">KABUL</a> (Pajhwok): A new survey released on Saturday said a majority of the Afghans believe the decades-old conflict in their country could be brought to an end by intra-Afghan dialogue.</p>
<p>Conducted by the Centre for Strategic and Regional Studies (CSRS), the survey said 90 percent of the respondents believed peace with the rebels was possible only by peace dialogue.</p>
<p>Abdul Baqi Amin, CSRS head, presented the survey report at a press conference in capital Kabul.</p>
<p>Titled ‘Deadlock of Peace and Solution, the survey was launched in Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Kandahar, Nangarhar and Kunduz provinces in three months.</p>
<p>Those interviewed included civil <a href="/en/society" class="glossify-link">society</a> activists, political activists, university lecturers and other educated people, he said.</p>
<p>He said 82 percent of the interviewees believed the ongoing war in <a href="/en/afghanistan" class="glossify-link">Afghanistan</a> had no winner and ending the conflict was possible only by peace talks.</p>
<p>“Sixty-seven percent of the respondents said the Afghan government has no practical program for brining peace while 73 percent believed Afghanistan has turned into a proxy war ground and Afghans were denied the chance to choose peace,” Amin said.</p>
<p>According to the survey, 76 percent of people said that the <a href="/en/high-peace-council" class="glossify-link">High Peace Council</a> (HPC) did not work as an honest mediator.</p>
<p>It said 78 percent of the interviewees preferred a third impartial party for ensuring peace in Afghanistan while 90 percent said there was need for an intra-Afghan plan and dialogue.</p>
<p><a href="/en/mullah" class="glossify-link">Mullah</a> Abdul Salam Zaeef talking to Pajhwok Afghan News on the sidelines of the meeting, said peace was impossible through military operations. He said the Afghans should create a mechanism for peace and take action for its implementation.</p>
<p>“Form the government side, there is no mechanism and people also do not trust it, a mechanism that all the Afghans can trust should be created, so it would be able to bring peace to the country,” he said.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Zaeef criticized the presence of US forces in Afghanistan and said: “There should be a mechanism to specify that for how long the US would stay in Afghanistan, what are their goals.”</p>
<p>He said the US could continue its stay in Afghanistan by implementing economic projects, not by running military bases.</p>
<p>mds/ma</p>
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