KABUL - A number of Wolesi Jirga or lower house members on Saturday said that Taliban should declare ceasefire during peace talks with Afghan government.

Zahir Qadir, the first deputy speaker, asked Taliban to announce ceasefire before peace talks to build peace in Afghanistan.

“If Taliban really want peace in Afghanistan, they should stop violence, otherwise peace talks during violence will not yield positive results,” he informed.

Fawzia Kufi, representative from Badakhshan, said that their red lines in peace talks were clear and ceasefire was one important that must be agreed upon.

She added there were different groups in Afghanistan fighting but it was not clear how much of them were Taliban.

In ceasefire, people would understand that how much of fighters were Taliban and the people would know how much this group was powerful, she remarked.

Her colleague from Kabul, Nazifa Zaki also aired same reservations by saying: “Ceasefire is mandatory. We lose a large number of security personnel everyday and talking about peace with the Taliban in such situation will not produce results.”

She added that the Taliban’s demands were very high and the government must surrender and the constitution should amend to Taliban if they reach peace.

The Afghanistan Ulama Council had urged Taliban to at least ceasefire during the holy month of Ramadan. However, Taliban rejected the request and increased violence.

Taliban and government officials had met in China, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Norway but both sides had said that the meetings were informal.

In recent event, Taliban and Afghan government representatives had met in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and both the sides agreed to meet in future. (Pajhwok)