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To fight terrorism state-to-state relations imperative: Afghan politicians to Russia
By Farhad Naibkhel-KABUL: Large number of Afghan politicians and civil society activists strongly condemned the trilateral meeting on Afghanistan which held on 27th December in Moscow. They urged Russia to focus on state-to-state relations in order to fight terrorism.
Terming the December 27th moot an act of interference in Afghan affairs, activists and politicians said that Moscow’s growing ties with the Taliban would destabilize the region and fuel terrorism further.
Expressing deep concerns over growing support to the Taliban by Russia and other regional countries, the activists said that these countries should put weight behind Afghan security forces rather than funding and arming militants.
“Russian Federation shall support Afghan government rather than illegal cruel armed groups in order to suppress Daesh in Afghanistan,” said Head of the United Afghanistan Party (Hizb-e Afghanistan-e Wahid) Mohammad Omar Ayar.
Criticizing US and NATO troops for failure to eliminate terrorist groups in the over past 15 years, he said that for the past four decades powerful countries continue to fan and support proxy wars in Afghanistan.
He warned that patience of Afghan people has reached to its “extreme limit” and they won’t allow the eastern and western countries anymore to turn Afghanistan into a ground for a proxy war.
Chairman of the National Peace Party, Shah Mahmood Popal, said that foreign troops including the US forces came to Afghanistan on the pretext of fighting terrorism and drugs. “The objectives are unachieved. Actually, insecurity has increased and production of narcotics broke all records. Terrorism has also taken deep roots,” he said.
He urged the US president-elect Donald Trump to revise policies of his country regarding Afghanistan.
President of the Wolesi Talon Party, Sayed Ali Tahseen, called on all Afghans to strengthen unity in their ranks and mobilize as one united nation in order to overcome the existing challenges.
“The current war is fought by global powers over petrol and dollar. The Taliban and Daesh are only the tools of this war. Some people say that they are defending Islam by fighting the United States of American and Russia. It is ridiculous. Everyone must know that there are different reasons behind the continued war in Afghanistan,” He said.
Politicians and civil activists also released a joint statement in which they stressed on state-to-state relations. The statement said that only relations between the legitimate governments would help to fight terrorism. “The trilateral meeting on Afghanistan in Russia where Pakistani and Chinese authorities were invited will not help the peace process in Afghanistan because Afghan officials were not invited. Such meetings will further fuel war and extremism in the region,” the statement said.
The statement said that the Taliban’s relations with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Russia is a clear sign that the militant group is highly relying on foreign support, and cannot take independent decisions. “The militants are killing innocent people on the direction of strangers.”
According to the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) signed with the United States and status of forces agreement (SOFA) with NATO, it is responsibility of the US and the European military alliance to eliminate illegal armed groups in Afghanistan including the Taliban and Daesh, said the statement.
