Second Vice President Sarwar Danesh said that the peace process had reached an important stage due to the leadership of the government and the continuous efforts of international partners.
In his Eid al-Adha message on Thursday, Danesh said that the government had released 4,600 Taliban prisoners so far, including those with “criminal and security records.”
He said the negotiating team was fully prepared for the talks and said they had made taken important steps for peace.
“In our view, the establishment of lasting peace and an end to 40 years of violence in the country requires self-sacrifice, foresight,” he said, adding, “That is why the government leadership has so far spared no effort in this regard, removing all possible obstacles and releasing 4,600 Taliban prisoners so far.”
He described the release of Taliban prisoners as “the latest step in peace talks and a crucial step in building trust” due to the Doha Agreement to which the Afghan government was not a part of.
Danesh added that the Taliban appears to be abusing the government’s goodwill and peaceful actions, wasting time, escalating the war and “escalating unprecedented violence” to increase their totalitarianism.
Taliban consider themselves ‘victors’ of the war
Reacting to Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada’s Eid message, Danesh said it was “propaganda” and that after the signing of the Doha agreement with the U.S., the Taliban has been considering themselves the victors of the war and want to establish as Islamic Emirate.
“The Taliban leadership must know that this dream will never be interpreted in Afghanistan, and that the values enshrined in the Afghan constitution and the achievements of the Republic over the last two decades are non-negotiable.”
Danesh warned that if the Taliban continued to escalate violence and disrespect the “blood of the martyrs of the defence and security forces,” the current progress on peace will be damaged and this historic opportunity will be lost.
The second vice president stated that the ball was now in the Taliban’s court.
Danesh not the only one concerned
Earlier, First Vice President Amrullah Saleh also commented on Akhundzada’s Eid message on Twitter.
“In the verbose message of the Taliban leader only one thing is easy to understand i.e. three days of no killing. Everything else written on behalf of this Quetta based shadowy figure is nothing but asking people to surrender to a medieval way of life or face bloodshed after the three days,” he wrote.
This comments come as the Afghan peace process enters the ceasefire and maybe, eventually, a face-to-face negotiation among both parties.
