Make peace or else, says Ghani
Ultimatum given to Taliban as protests and clashes erupt over bomb attack
KABUL // Afghan president Ashraf Ghani issued an ultimatum to the Taliban yesterday, warning them to embrace peace or face consequences after announcing that the death toll from last week’s lorry bombing had crossed the 150 mark. Mr Ghani has come under mounting criticism over the bombing, the deadliest in Kabul since 2001, with protests and deadly street clashes in the Afghan capital as people incensed by spiralling insecurity called for his government’s resignation.
The president made a strong plea for peace at an international conference on Afghanistan attended by about two dozen countries, which was held under tight security as armoured vehicles patrolled the streets and fighter jets roared over the capital.
“We are offering a chance for peace but this is not an openended offer,” Mr Ghani said.
“Time is running out, this is the last chance: take it or face consequences.”
The conference, labelled the Kabul Process, aims to build international support for ways to restore security in Afghanistan.
Mr Ghani offered the Taliban the opportunity to open a representative office, and said that he was flexible about the location of future talks.
The insurgents responded to the conference by firing a rocket at what they claimed was Nato’s headquarters.
It landed inside the Indian ambassador’s residence but no one was hurt. Kabul has been on edge since the huge lorry bomb last Wednesday ripped through the city’s highly fortified diplomatic quarter, home to the presidential palace and several foreign embassies.
The death toll has jumped to more than 150 people, while more than 300 wounded were taken to hospitals, many with burns and amputations, Mr Ghani said.
“We are a nation of survivors. Terrorists can shed our blood but they cannot break our will,” he said. Previously, officials had put the number of dead at 90. Mr Ghani did not explain the dramatic jump but Afghan authorities are well known for initially playing down casualty figures.
Four more people were killed on Friday when hundreds of protesters incensed by the bombing clashed with police, prompting officials to force them back with live rounds fired in the air, tear gas and water cannon.
The protesters, holding a sit-in for a fifth day yesterday near the bombing site, have demanded the resignation of security chiefs including national security adviser Hanif Atmar. The attacks have heightened tensions between rival ethnic groups and raised the prospect of a political crisis.
Foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani, who leads the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat political group, also called for Mr Atmar’s dismissal on Monday.
But Mr Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, firmly rejected the demand.
Mr Rabbani survived an attack at the funeral of one of the protesters on Saturday, when a suicide bomber detonated his device near a row of mourners and killed seven more people.
Mr Rabbani blamed terrorists within the system for the funeral blasts, suggesting they were an inside job. The government has accused the Taliban- allied Haqqani Network of carrying out last Wednesday’s attack and said the funeral was targeted by bombers trained at a religious seminary in Pakistan.
Previous international efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table have failed, but diplomats in Kabul hailed yesterday’s conference as a milestone.