The US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in a series of tweets on Sunday reiterated his call on the Afghan warring parties to swiftly end the violence and agree to a political settlement to end the conflict as soon as possible.
“We condemn the ongoing high level of violence and we condemn all those who authorize and carry out such attacks across Afghanistan, creating terror and bloodshed,” Khalilzad said.
Referring to the recent explosion in a religious gathering in Ghazni province, Khalilzad said both the Afghan government and the Taliban must respect the demands of the Afghan people and agree on a political settlement soon.
Khalilzad said: “The news from Ghazni of the deaths of so many innocents, almost all of them children, is heart-breaking. We share the sorrow and grief that the victims’ families bear at this moment.”
“The Islamic Republic and the Taliban must respect the demands of their people and reach a political agreement as soon as possible. The United States stands with the people of Afghanistan,” said Khalilzad.
“With the US-Taliban Agreementt, US-Afghanistan Joint Declaration, broad international support for peace and start of intra-Afghan negotiations, the intra-Afghan war and killing have lost their legitimacy in the eyes of the overwhelming number of Afghans who need and yearn for peace and security,” Khalilzad said.
“We call for all sides to reduce violence and move quickly to a ceasefire. Together and with international support they must also deal with menace of unexploded ordnance and mines across the country to save precious lives, children and adults,” he said.
This comes two days after at least 15 civilians were killed and 20 more were wounded in an explosion at a gathering in Gelan district, Ghazni province, on Friday.
The explosives were loaded on a motorbike that was parked near a house in Agho Jan village in Gelan district where a group of people had gathered to attend a Quran recitation ceremony, the Interior Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Tariq Arian said.
On Saturday, six members of the Afghan Public Protection Force were killed and four more were wounded in a Taliban attack on their outpost in Qala-e-Naw, the center of Badghis province, said Abdul Aziz Bek, the head of the Badghis provincial council.
In northern Afghanistan, four civilians were killed in a roadside bomb blast in Balkh district in the northern province of Balkh on Saturday, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said.
Also, in Parwan province, four rockets hit the Bagram Airfield, a major US air base in Afghanistan, early Saturday morning but so far officials have not given details on possible casualties in the incident.
The rockets were fired at Bagram Airfield from the Qalandarkhil area in Parwan province, said Wahida Shahkar, a spokesperson for the Parwan governor.
‘Taliban Use Violence as Leverage’: Miller
Gen. Scott Miller, the US and NATO forces commander in Afghanistan, has said that the Taliban are using violence as a leverage and that they must reduce the violence because they’re the “instigators” of it.
“Clearly, the Taliban use violence as leverage. It’s a tool they’ve used for a long time and it’s one they’re loathe to abandon. We press them pretty hard on violence. You know, we have been pressing them since 1 March 2020,” Miller told reporters on Wednesday.
“I’ve been very consistent that the Taliban must reduce the violence. That’s one because they’re the instigators of it, and that’ll bring the violence down all around. But if we don’t, my assessment is that it puts the peace process at risk and the higher the violence, the higher the risk. And I also believe that this opportunity for peace should not be squandered,” Miller said.
Last month, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that Afghanistan remains the deadliest country for civilians, with the Afghan women and children making up half of the fatalities.
Robert Mardini, director general of the ICRC, who is currently visiting Afghanistan said that the escalation of violence in Afghanistan in recent months has worsened the humanitarian situation in the country, adding that hundreds of injuries, including a significant number of civilians, have been admitted to hospitals in Kandahar, Helmand and Ghazni provinces.
Mardini also met the Taliban officials in Andar district of Ghazni province.
“Even as peace talks are taking place, it is clear that there has been an intensification of hostilities in Afghanistan in recent weeks with a result in increase in the number of weapon wounded being admitted to hospitals,” he said. “According to hospital staffs, in areas in both sides of the conflict, for example in Helmand, Kandahar or Ghazni provinces, hundreds of casualties were admitted last month including significant numbers of civilians.
