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KABUL: Escalation of Taliban attacks in some provinces, including Helmand, has provoked denunciations from officials while Afghanistan point man for peace Dr. Abdullah has heaped scorns on the Taliban for increasing violence.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of High Council for National Reconciliation, has said the Taliban would not be able to gain anything through war.
“If their aim is to impose an Islamic emirate on Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign forces, it is a miscalculation,” he said on the second anniversary of the assassination of former Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq in Kabul, referring to the possible withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
The remarks come as the Taliban continue to insist on forming a ‘new Islamic system’ in Afghanistan.
Although delegations from Afghanistan government and the Taliban are in Doha to begin peace talks, violence in Afghanistan has escalated in recent weeks. As many as 40,000 people have been displaced by a Taliban attack in Helmand last week. No casualties have been reported so far.
Amrullah Saleh, Afghanistan’s First Vice President disparaged the Taliban at a memorial service for the former Kandahar police chief. He said the Taliban had been planning to attack Helmand for nine months.
“They had planned 9 months to carry out the bloody and shameful attack on Helmand. They didn’t achieve anything but destruction, plundering and displacement of tens of thousands of people. I loathe their thinking, their war and their structure,” he said.
Hamdullah Moheb, National Security Adviser, said in response to Taliban attacks in Helmand that peace could be achieved with those who are independent.
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Supreme National Reconciliation Council, and Fazl Hadi Muslimyar, speaker of the Meshrano Jirga, called on the Taliban to reduce violence and show flexibility in peace talks. Muslimyar stated that the success of the talks in Qatar requires a “ceasefire” on both sides.
The Taliban have not yet commented on Abdullah and Saleh’s remarks.
