Balkh residents ask Taliban to stop attacks on public

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Civil society militants to stop their attacks on people amid ongoing peace negotiations.

They strongly condemned the latest attacks in Kabul and Helmand province and asked the government to take further security measures for people’s safety.

Zabihullah Ihsas, a civil society activist, in his address to the gathering in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital, said no side could win the war.

He said attacks on the New Year (Nawroz) celebration event in Kabul and a gathering of farmers in Helmand province showed the Taliban’s disregard for people lives.

Ihsas expressed his deep concern about sidelining the Afghan government in the ongoing peace talks abroad and feared the process would produce a dangerous outcome.

He said the international community was once again repeating the past mistake when former president Dr. Najibullah’s government was excluded from talks and Pakistan, the US and Taliban were in search of such a situation in the country.

He warned the international community that peace would not come to Afghanistan had no right to cut deals on Afghanistan.

Mir Roeen Ansari, another civil society activist, said Taliban militants were giving no value to the peace talks.

He said, “If peace negotiations had any value for the Taliban, they would have never attacked common people.”

A number of other residents held similar views and urged the Taliban to stop attacks on public.

pk/ma