KABUL - Gen. Abdul Rashid, leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and candidate for the presidential elections on Monday apologized from the victims of the civil war.

The leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan following a statement urged all the other political figures who were involved in the Afghan civil war to open a new chapter in the political environment of Afghanistan and apologize from the war victims.

Gen. Dostum in his statement said, “It is the time that we should apologize from the Afghan people who were sacrificed due to our policies. I am taking the first step, and apologize from the people who suffered from the violence and civil war in the country.”

Dostum also added that all the people of Afghanistan, from various ethnicities suffered during the two decades of civil war and no one remained protected from the violence at that time.

He said war is one of the worst and inhuman act and the people of Afghanistan have been the victim of war, which created distance and mistrust among the Afghan people. “This was a bitter truth and was supposed to be acknowledged one day,” Gen. Dostum.

Gen. Dostum also added, “We want to be initiator of a new era and tradition based on which the others should also bravely acknowledge their mistakes and prevent such incidents in the future.”

Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum on Sunday formally filed nomination for the upcoming presidential elections and has been named as first vice-president to Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.

He vowed to take all steps in order to serve the Afghan people and create a peaceful environment for all the Afghan people, if he was given the opportunity to serve the nation.

This is the first time an Afghan warlord who was directly involved in civil war during 1990s, is apologizing from the Afghan people, and observers believe that his remarks are part of his campaign for the upcoming presidential elections. (KP)