Peace should be with due honor and dignity: Abdullah Abdullah
KABUL - Leader of the Afghan opposition party Afghanistan National Front (ANF) claimed Saturday that the Afghan government had no political commitment in fighting against terrorism, evidenced by discussion of forming a coalition with the Taliban.
Speaking in at the 20th anniversary of the Mujahidin victory day, head of the National Front Ahmad Zia Massoud said that the Afghan government is evidently considering a coalition government with the Taliban, evidence that it is not committed to ending terrorism.
"The government has no commitment to fighting terrorism. The recent comments of the government leaders show they want to establish a coalition with Taliban. We don't want to make a government with those who kill thousands of innocent people," Massoud said in Kabul.
Meanwhile, leader of the National Coalition of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah said that several prominent public figures were killed last year by the Taliban, so we should not make peace with those people. "If there is peace it should be with due honor and dignity" he added.
"Several public figures were killed [by the Taliban] last year. We don't want peace with those who killed innocent people and changed the country into a hideout for terrorists," he said in his speech.
The newly-appointed chief of the Afghan High Peace Council Salahuddin Rabbani also spoke on the occasion, saying that it is impossible to bring peace if Afghans are not united.
He also emphasized that the presidential election and security transfer needs peace to happen.
"It's impossible to bring peace in the country without the people being united. We have a lot to do to bring peace," Rabbani said.
"To hold the presidential election and security transfer we need peace and stability."
This comes as senior Taliban leaders told British Channel 4 that talks between the group and the US have been reumed in Qatar.
The Taliban had suspended the talks last month after accusing the US of not having a clear vision or sticking to its promises. (Tolo News)