President Ashraf Ghani addressed a joint special session of the National Assembly on Monday to speak on the current situation in the country, saying “we have paid a high price for peace” but still the nation faces war.
“We have paid a high price for peace and showed great gentleness, but instead war was imposed on us,” President Ghani said, indirectly referring to the release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the Afghan government earlier in the peace process.
Ghani said an “imported” and “hasty” process was imposed on Afghanistan which resulted in “legitimizing an insurgent group instead of achieving peace.”
“The Taliban has changed only in that their cruelty has increased,” he said.
“We no longer have the … opportunity of blaming each other, we all face a great test,” he said.
Ghani stated that “the current situation is due to a sudden decision on the withdrawal of the international troops,” but “the protection of the people is our duty.”
He mentioned that the nation was faced with an unexpected situation in the past three months.
“This aggression and war has been imposed on us,” he said.
He urged the Afghan national assembly and the political leaders to seek unity, saying it is the “only way toward our victory.”
“We must go toward national mobilization, and we must all work for the national mobilization,” he said.
Speaking of the government forces, President Ghani said he believes that the forces have increased their level of mobilization and will continue to do so.
He said the Taliban is “not committed to any values.”
He assured the nation that the situation will change in the upcoming six months due to the security plan that the Afghan government has prepared.
“The army is defending strategic goals and the police are defending the cities,” he said.
