Afghanistan’s peace process appears to reach a stalemate with the Taliban’s mala fide intention for talks. Declaration of the Taliban’s spring offensive showed their lukewarm response to the ceasefire, which is a serious demand in the negotiation.
Despite being pressured by their interlocutors, the Taliban still hold out against direct negotiation with Afghan government. Although the Taliban held several rounds of talks with the US representatives and the names of their negotiating team have been removed from the UN blacklist, they still refuse to declare truce.
The Taliban have turned a blind eye to the public demands during the Consultative Loya Jirga and continued their insurgency without signaling for ceasefire. The Taliban have constantly spilt the blood of civilians, violated the rights of people, trampled upon Afghan Constitution and international instruments, and played a highly destructive role within more than two decades. The Taliban are not a political party but a terrorist group, which respects neither national nor international laws.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a statement on Monday expressed grave concern about the impact on civilians from the increase in violence around the country during the first week of the holy month of Ramadan.
The mission condemned Taliban for incidents in which civilians have been deliberately targeted, such as the 8 May attack in Kabul against a non-governmental organization, Counterpart International. Six civilians were killed and further 28 injured.
According to UNAMA, an earlier suicide attack by Taliban on the eve of Ramadan against the Afghan National Police headquarters in Pul-e-Khumri, Baghlan province, caused many civilian casualties, with women and children among the injured.
These two attacks in civilian-populated urban centers took place against a background of widespread reports of a recent intensification of the conflict in various regions of the country, as well as multiple claims that civilians are paying a heavy price.
If Taliban are really Afghan and Muslim, they should reconsider the voice of their people and the Islamic fatwa and rethink about country’s interests and oneness. Otherwise these conflicts will produce no winner except farther destruction of the county. The conflict has already taken a lot of lives, regardless of whether it is a soldier, a civilian or even the Taliban fighters who are from Afghanistan.
The Taliban, their supporters and the international community should note that Afghan people want peace and security and they are really stupefied for who are responsible for these many casualties? And who is responsible for increasing number of addictions, hunger and corruption? And what is the benefit of foreigners’ presence in our country while every day the tragedies are repeated? As the armed conflicts in Afghanistan are watered by various social and political motives, they all must be thoroughly analyzed and taken to consideration or else peace is not possible.
In fact, peace program neither could be confined to mere negotiations nor limited to battle field but it should be combined of both with firm will for producing results and essential changes.
Taliban again behind increasing civilian casualties during holy month of Ramadan
