KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday strongly condemned the assassination of a senior Taliban leader, Maulvi Abdul Raqib Takhari, in Pakistan, saying the former refugee minister sacrificed his life in his work to peacefully resolve the long conflict in Afghanistan.
Takhari, laid to rest in the Kalafgan district of northwestern Takhar province on Tuesday, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen soon after he came out of his residence in the Nasirbagh locality of Peshawar on Monday.
A statement issued from the President Spokesman Office said: “Maulvi Abdul Raqib Takhari, formerly the minister of refugees during the Taliban regime, was supportive of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. He embraced martyrdom on return from Dubai, where he had participated in a meeting convened by Mullah Agha Jan Mutasim to discuss peace.”
Reports say a High Peace Council delegation, led by Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, travelled to Dubai on Sunday to meet former and current Taliban figures convened by Mutasim, the former finance minister during the Taliban’s rule.
Earlier in an interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Mutasim had said the Dubai meeting insisted in one voice on a discussion among all Afghans, and the need to find a peaceful solution.
The statement from the Presidential Palace one again called on Taliban leaders to return to their homeland and initiate a peace dialogue in a peaceful environment with their Afghan brothers.
It said there was no real security for Afghans abroad, particularly for those seeking peace in Afghanistan and working for that goal, the statement said.
The statement said President Karzai had welcomed peace efforts initiated the Taliban leader Mullah Mutasim, calling the development good news for the war-weary Afghans at a time when the country was passing through sensitive political phases.
Karzai hoped the peace bid would eventually succeed and all leaders of the Taliban would act on their part to bring about peace and stability to their motherland.
Karzai extended his deep sympathies to the family of Maulvi Takhari and prayed Allah Almighty to award the family with courage and fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
The Taliban have also strongly condemned the killing of Takhari, whose funeral was HPC Political Advisor Mohammad Qasim Halimi, Ministry of Hajj official Abdul Hakim Munib and others.
No group in Pakistan has so far claimed responsibility for the killing of Takhari, who had been the only Tajik minister in the Taliban cabinet.
Senior Taliban commander Noorullah Hotak was assassinated in Quetta in December. Haqqani Network leader Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani was killed in Islamabad in November. (Pajhwok)