AT-KABUL: In the wake of a wave of peace movements and cross-country convoys to propagate nonviolence, a group of people started on Friday a foot journey from Kabul towards northern Balkh province, in pursuit of an end to spiraling conflict and restoration of peace.
The activists embarked on the 550-kilometer journey from Kabul at about 10am, said one of the participants, Bismillah Watandost.
He said dozens of people were taking part in the peace journey but 20 of them were barefooted. They would walk for five kilometers a day and would reach Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, in two months.
He said that the aim is to build pressure on the warring sides to declare ceasefire and embrace peace permanently and to urge people living along the route to join them and strengthen their cause.
A similar peace walk was first organized from the capital of southern Helmand province to Kabul after a deadly attack in Lashkargah and then several similar journeys followed.
The activists upon reaching Kabul erected protest tents in front of the US, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, the UN and the EU diplomatic missions and sent letters to the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC).