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Taliban offensive ‘contradicts’ group’s claim to support peace process
A group of 15 diplomatic missions, the EU, and the office of NATO’s civilian representative have condemned the ongoing violence in Afghanistan and called for an urgent end to the Taliban’s ongoing military offensive.
The group of 15 countries, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK, and US said in a statement the ongoing violence thwarts efforts to arrive at a negotiated solution to the conflict and harms and displaces the civilian population.
“We condemn the continued targeted killings taking place throughout Afghanistan, the destruction of vital infrastructure, and threats, declarations, and other actions against the gains Afghans have made over the last twenty years,” the statement read.
The Taliban’s offensive is in direct contradiction to their claim to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict and to the Doha peace process, the missions stated.
“The indiscriminate detaining and killing of civilians and assaults of prisons demonstrates an extremely concerning disregard for the rule of law,” the statement read.
“In districts occupied by the Taliban, inhabitants and observers also credibly report attempts to repress the human rights of women and girls and to shut down private and public media organizations in an attempt to conceal their human rights abuses and diminish freedom of expression.
“On behalf of our respective mission, we vehemently condemn these and any other actions that violate the human rights of Afghan citizens,” the statement read.
“We want to underscore that progress made over the past years can only be sustained if all parties work together,” read the statement.
In conclusion, the group said: “We join the UNAMA in calling on the Taliban and all parties to immediately end the violence, agree to a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, and engage fully in a peace negotiations to end the suffering of the Afghan people and pave the way to an inclusive political settlement that benefits all Afghans and ensures that Afghanistan does not again serve as a safe haven for terrorists.”
“This Eid ul-Adha, the Taliban should lay down their weapons for good and show the world their commitment to the peace process.”
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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