Doha/Kabul, Aug 11 : Afghanistan’s top peace and reconciliation leader Abdullah Abdullah has said the world cannot remain indifferent to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and must send a clear message to the Taliban to end the violence.
Addressing a three-day international Afghan peace conference in the Qatari capital, Doha, Abdullah Abdullah charged the Taliban with committing “grim crimes”, and said that hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting, thousands killed, and thousands wounded with the Taliban advancing on major cities.
Abdullah Abdullah was addressing representatives of the US, China, Pakistan, Russia, the UK, Uzbekistan, Qatar, the UN, and the EU in Doha on Tuesday night.
Abdullah Abdullah accused the Taliban of breaching their promise agreed upon during the last meeting in Doha that the intra-Afghan talks should be expedited and there should be a third party to the negotiations.
“The Taliban have violated this commitment, intensifying war, and violence, and launched offensive attacks on cities,” he said.
He said the Taliban are asking for the release of their remaining prisoners, but this has not contributed to peace or bringing the war to an end.
“Thousands of terrorists, along with the constant presence of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, from Jaish-e-Muhammad to Lashkar-e-Taiba, have entered Afghanistan and are fighting against our people,” the Afghan top official said.
He said the ongoing misery will lead to an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
He called on the Taliban to present their peace scheme and agree to a third party or mediator in the intra-Afghan talks as there cannot be a military solution.
The US, Russia, Pakistan, China, and representatives of other regional countries and international organizations are getting together for the Troika Plus meeting to press the Taliban to seek a negotiated settlement and to reiterate their commitment on not recognizing any government imposed by force in Afghanistan.
The meeting is being held Wednesday, August 11.
