KABUL (SW) – The Taliban’s failed bid to assassinate Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum in his convoy on the main Balkh – Jawzjan highway has been widely condemned.
The electoral team of the CEO Abdullah Abdullha has dubbed it as a cowardly act, and has urged authorities to bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice. In a statement, Abdullah’s electoral team has cast grim concerns over this attack.
The statement further noted that VP Dostum is pillar of stability in the country, and such an attack is particularly concerning at a time when efforts for peace and talks with the Taliban have intensified.
The electoral team of Mohammad Haneef Atmar has also condemned this attacks, and has called for investigations into the incident. It has stressed the government must seriously perform its duty of ensuring security of the citizens and politicians. It has deplored that the convoy of a serving VP has been attacked by the insurgents.
Dostum returned to Balkh after nearly three years on Saturday. The VP’s convoy was attacked in the Timorak area of the Balkh province as he was travelling by road to his hometown Jawzjan. The VP has confirmed one of his guards was killed and two others got injured in this attack.
The Taliban, however, claimed to have killed four of his guards in this ambush.
In his speech at Mazar-i-Sharif, Dostum said though he has not adopted a particular stance in regard to the peace process, but he did criticize the marginalization from the peace process. “I was not sitting idle in Turkey, I was not sitting idle in Uzbekistan, we should have upper hand in the talks, we are the government, we are the state, we should not be sidelined in the talks”, he said.
Pronouncing the ongoing year a deadly one, he said if the President, CEO and the National Security Council allows him, he would clear the northern provinces of the presence of the terrorists in six months.
ENDS
