Afghans demand ceasefire before peace talks
Grand assembly, set to chart the way forward ahead of efforts to strike a deal with the Taliban, calls for cessation of conflict as a first step
Kabul — Thousands of Afghans taking part in a rare grand assembly to discuss a possible peace deal with Taliban militants are demanding a ceasefire on both sides as a first step, officials said on Thursday. The Loya Jirga is meeting under a huge, permanent, white tent in Kabul with the aim of influencing peace talks between the US and the Taliban to end a war that has raged since the militants’ ouster in 2001. The Taliban, seeking to restore strict Islamic rule, refuse to talk to the government of President Ashraf Ghani which they dismiss as a US puppet. They rejected an invitation to the Loya Jirga. “We are here to urge both sides to announce a ceasefire. The war will end only when both sides stop fighting before they sign a permanent peace agreement,” said Abdul Hannan, a member of one the committees that travelled from the south to attend the assembly. The US talks with the Taliban in Qatar are part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the US’s longest war, which began w...
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