Battlefield change to encourage sincere talks: Ghani

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani has said the Taliban would not arrive at negotiating table for serious talks until the situation on the battlefield is changed

Addressing the first electronic Cabinet meeting, the president said: “The Taliban changed in the past 24 hours as they become more ruthless, distanced from Islam and become more tyrant. They did not change positively and have no intension towards peace and reconstruction. We should know the Taliban. We want peace but they want the opposition to surrender.”

He said the first thing the Taliban did in districts was that they removed parts of curriculum preaching patriotisim, geography and history.

He accused the Taliban of not being sincere and said they would come to serious talks when there was positive change in the battle feild.

Ghani said: “In order to change the situation on the battlefield, strategic priorities must be planned and implemented. Prioritization means that in the next six months, we must fundamentally change the state of the war. Somewhere we are attacking, somewhere we are defending and somewhere we have to be prepared."

“An extremely cohesive administration has emerged that combines international terrorist organizations and their sponsors. So far in Afghanistan's history, terrorists have not carried out 50 to 150 offensive operations per day simultaneously. The Taliban have brought all the international black forces into Afghanistan, it is clear that they need to be recognized, their attack is an attack on our dignity,” he said.

The president also stressed over fight against corruption and added that fighting corruption was the government’s top priority.

There are provinces, he said, where people from one district occupied all key posts, democracy never moves on hereditary basis, corruption is not affordable anymore. “Please don’t disgrace me in front of my international colleagues.”

He said this week Da Afghanistan Bank will provide housing loans to defense and security forces and civilian government employees, according to which anyone with a salary of more than 30,000 afghanis can borrow five million afghanis.

nh/ma