Afghan peace marchers arrive in Kabul
They are calling on the government and Taliban to find a way for peace and reconciliation
Dozens of peace protesters arrived in Kabul yesterday after walking hundreds of kilometres across war-battered Afghanistan, as the Taliban ended an unprecedented ceasefire and resumed attacks in parts of the country.
Exhausted after their 700-kilometre trek, most of it during Ramadan, the marchers walked double file through the Afghan capital shouting “We want peace!” and “Stop fighting!”
“We want our people to stay united for peace and get rid of this misery for the next generation,” Mohammad Naikzad, one of the marchers, told Tolo News.
“I am calling on both sides — the government and the Taliban — for God’s sake ... find a way for peace and reconciliation.”
The Taliban refused to extend their three-day ceasefire beyond Sunday night despite pressure from ordinary Afghans, the government and the international community.
Taliban fighters attacked security forces in numerous districts of eastern and southern Afghanistan, officials told AFP, but there were no details on casualties.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh told AFP there had been “very few” reports of fighting since the government on Saturday extended its own ceasefire with the Taliban for another 10 days.
“We hope the Taliban accept the Afghan nation’s call for peace,” Radmanesh added.
First of its kind
The peace march, believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan, emerged from a sitin protest and hunger strike in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand which is a Taliban stronghold.
That demonstration, which began spontaneously after a car-bomb attack in the city on March 23, triggered similar movements by war-weary Afghans nationwide.