(MENAFN- Afghanistan Times) AT News Report
KABUL: In wake of ongoing peace efforts, and refusal of
Taliban insurgent to lay down their arms, a number of residents from Helmand
province took out to the streets to give vent to their anger over what they
call dismissal of ceasefire by Taliban group.
The protestors including religious scholars, tribal elders
and activists at a gathering in Lashkargah, the provincial capital city, calling
on the two sides to announce a ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadhan
which kicked off Monday.
'To respect the holy
month of Ramadhan, we urge both sides (the Afghan government and the Taliban)
to announce a ceasefire in order to provide the ground for peace talks,' Nazar
Mohammad Rodi, a civil society activist in Helmand was quoted by TOLONews, as
saying. 'Forty years of war has badly affected our county. It is enough
now.'
'Those who have gathered here are seeking peace. We call on
the warring parties to announce a ceasefire,' said Abdul Khaliq Zwakman, an
activist.
Religious scholars at the gathering said the current war is
not in favor or any side.
'In the holy month of Ramadhan, the doors of heaven are open
and the doors of hell are closed; therefore, they (the Taliban) must stop the war
and should join their families,' said Jannat Gul, a religious scholar.
'Stop killing of the poor nation and the bloodshed. We do
not want to see the bloodshed anymore,' said Abdul Bashir, a religious scholar
from Helmand.
Abdul Haq, a Helmand resident who lost his two sons in a
roadside mine blast in the province last year, said Afghans are really tired of
war.
'Last year, I lost my two sons in a roadside mine blast in
Shawal area when they were on their way to work. The area was under Taliban
influence. I am ready to forgive those who killed my sons if the Taliban and
the government forces lay down their weapons,' he said.
'We want ceasefire and peace. We do not want brother
killing. We call on the Afghan government and the Taliban to declare a ceasefire
in Ramadhan,' said Jalaluddin, a Helmand resident.
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission
in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto in a message on the occasion of Ramadhan
extended his warmest wishes to all Afghans and called on all parties to the
conflict to halt the fighting.
Taliban even did not agree over resolution come out from
Consultative Loya Jirga for Peace, where 3,200 delegates, 30 percent of them
women, last week concluded their grand assembly and called on Afghan government
and the Taliban group to agree for a comprehensive ceasefire beginning from
first day of Ramadan.
Taliban has said that their 'Jihad' will have more rewards
during Ramadhan as they rejected the ceasefire suggestion, and furthermore
termed the Jirga symbolic and failure.
This comes as many Afghan politicians and twelve electoral
tickets boycotted Jirga, where they say it is nothing but an electoral campaign
for President Ghani.
Moreover, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah who has equal
share in national unity government, recently said Jirga had nothing new, and
did not see any justifiable reason to had participation in it.
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