KABUL (Pajhwok): Peace Jirga, an institute advocating peace in Afghanistan, says that no conflict side should use educational centers as trenches.
In a protest meeting in Kabul on Wednesday, a member of the institute said that large areas of public facilities in Helmand province had been destroyed in the conflict or currently under destruction.
He said that the warring sides should not use people’s houses, universities and schools as their bastion and trenches.
“The Bust Private University in Helmand is invested $3 million, but now it is used as a trench,” he added, saying the international community should play its role in easing the situation in Afghanistan.
Abdul BasirMujadadi, another member of the institute, also said that the government and the Taliban should not use residential areas as their trenches.
He said that people had invested huge amount of money in building facilities in the country over the last two decades and these facilities should not be destroyed.
EzatullahSekandar, a representative of Bust Private University, talking to the meeting said that first the Afghan forces used the university as a trench and then the government bombarded it after Taliban captured it.
“If public facilities are destroyed, people would no longer show interest in further investment”, he added.
A number of other participants of the meeting held similar views and released a resolution letter.
Participants of the meeting in the letter asked the warring sides to stop violence immediately and agree on peace in the country, particularly in Helmand province.
They said that security officials should ask Afghan forces stationed in the university to leave the facility as soon as possible.
The letter reads that the Taliban and government should stop wars in cities and avoid causing civilian casualties.
The letter asked the international community to pressure the conflict sides to stop harming public facilities including educational centers.
Taliban have captured most areas of Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province, and Afghan forces currently hold only the governor’s house, a military corps and police headquarters.
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