Taliban asked to reduce violence, agree to humanitarian ceasefire

KABUL’s targeting of civilians and asked the group to agree to a reduction in violence and  humanitarian ceasefire, a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Friday.

This was stated during a conference on International Consultations on Strengthening Consensus for Peace via VTC, the statement said.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani opened the conference with a statement setting forth the recent developments that the Afghan government has made in paving the way for the intra-Afghan talks to begin.

Representatives of eighteen of Afghanistan attended the conference.

This would build trust and show the Taliban’s willingness to engage in peace talks as well as creating as safe space for Afghans to reach humanitarian aid in times of COVID-19 crisis.

The Afghan Government representatives called on the Taliban to set a firm date for the start of the intra-Afghan talks, stating that an inclusive and capable team of Afghan negotiators were ready to start the talks.

Commenting on the nature of the intra-Afghan talks, the international allies stressed on the meaningful participation of women in the talks.

Participants emphasised that any agreement must preserve and strengthen the achievements of the last two decades, including the nature of the republic, safeguarding fundamental rights and the principle of inclusion.

The participants showed readiness to support both the peace talks and discuss the post peace talk development in Afghanistan, particularly in the upcoming Geneva Conference.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, concluded the conference by reassuring the Afghan Government’s commitment to the peace talks, good governance and the preservations of the Afghan public’s human rights.

In closing, participants expressed support for the continuation of the International Consultations and the Consultations on Strengthening Regional Consensus for Peace held on July 6, 2020.

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