KABUL lawmakers have urged EU, American and Qatari parliamentary leaders to support an immediate ceasefire in the country.
While peace talks continued in Doha, levels of violence and suffering had been rising in Afghanistan, the Parliamentary Women Caucus (PWC) wrote in a letter.
The letter has been addressed to Gabriela Cuevas Barron, president of Inter-Parliamentary Union, David Sassoli, the European Parliament head, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the US House of Representatives, and Ahmad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud, chairman of Qatar’s Consultative Assembly.
PWC has 45 women parliamentarians, 40 from the Wolesi Jirga and five from the Senate. The women MPs are part of different parliamentary commissions and groups,
The letter writers include the Wolesi Jirga Women Caucus, Human Rights, Civil Society and Women Affairs Commission and Civil Society members of the Upper House.
“Despite all our positive aspirations for peace talks, the people of Afghanistan are once again witnessing some of the worst coordinated attacks on civilians, infrastructure and public properties,” rads the letter.
It adds the Afghans do not feel safe in their homes, hospitals, in places of worship, or work place. They were even attacked in places where they mourned they lamented.
Most recently, they said, attacks on major urban centres in southern Helmand province added to the already developing humanitarian crisis in the country.
The attacks have displaced 35,000 people from homes, forced more than 4,000 children to drop out of school and damaged a power station worth millions of dollars damaged.
Similarly, in another recent attack in the Ghanikhel district of Nangarhar province, scores of children were murdered and wounded in addition to adults.
The intensifying attacks are a continuation of what people across the country have suffered from in the wake of the US-Taliban deal, signed on February 29, 2020.
“You might have read the details of the deal in which the Taliban agreed to a reduction in violence, a promise they have only fulfilled towards the American and its allies,” the lawmakers wrote.
In contrast, they regretted, the Taliban had stepped up attacks on the Afghan people. “What is more disturbing is that … these attacks were carried with the support of terrorists from the region.”
In their peace pact with the US, the Taliban also agreed to cut ties with other terrorist groups. Several reports and evidence from these attacks suggest otherwise.
“We want you to stand with the people of Afghanistan in achieving a real and comprehensive ceasefire. We believe we can achieve this with your help,” the letter said.
It stressed the need for the US-Taliban deal to be revisited, ensuring that commitments were re met and that there was a real ceasefire,” continues the communication.
“We … we ask for a responsible and timely withdrawal that will ensure no vacuum is created. Only a responsible and timely withdrawal will respect the thousands of lives lost, including those of your countrymen and women…
The legislators believed peace negotiations were the only solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. However, they faulted the Taliban’s use of violence that should not be tolerated by anyone.
“We urge you to join us in calling for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and ask for an end to the killings of the people of Afghanistan,” the female MPs said.
“We ask you to take action before our people lose hope for peace and decide to turn to violence…”
The failure of talks would have far-reaching consequences for the region and beyond, including rise in international terrorism, increased refugee flow from Afghanistan and increased illicit drugs trade, they warned.
“We ask you to continue to stand with us and support us in our desire for a peaceful Afghanistan, something our people really want and very much deserve.”
mud
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