KABUL (SW) – At least 2566 civilians got killed and 3021 got injured in the Taliban attacks in the past four months, the State Ministry for Peace said in a report on Thursday.
Findings of this report were shared during a press conference by Mawlawi Ata-ur-Rehman Salim, deputy chairman of the High Council for national reconciliation, Khoshnood Nabizada, chief of staff at the Ministry of Peace and other officials.
Speaking on the occasion, deputy head of the HCNR said that efforts were being made to portray the war in Afghanistan as religious in character, however, the teachings of the Holy Quranic against shedding blood is clear and it is forbidden to shed Muslims’ blood.
Kandahar residents stage large demo for peace
Afghanistan expects China to pressure Taliban for peace
He said that despite the agreements reached to reduce violence, the violence has increased, leading to an increase in financial and human losses and the displacement of innocent people.
Regarding the peace talks, Mawlawi Salim said that the negotiating team is constantly present in Doha, which shows the government’s seriousness in resolving problems through dialogue and negotiations, and that the other side, Taliban, should know that war is not the solution and that negotiated settlement should be pursued.
He said that in the Doha talks, it was decided to continue the talks at a higher level, and now the contact group and the facilitators of the meetings are expected to decide on the continuation of the talks.
On his term, Sayed Abdullah Hashemi, head of monitoring for reduction of violence and ceasefire at the peace ministry, said the quarterly report suggest the Taliban launched more than 22,000 attacks on the country’s security and defense forces, indicating the group’s lack of seriousness or commitment to the peace process.
“According to our findings, the hasty withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan encouraged the Taliban to consider the military option as a solution, and regional intelligence agencies tried to persuade the Taliban to keep fighting,” he said.
He said that in the last four months, a total of 93 suicide attacks, 650 rocket attacks, 1,675 mine explosions, 844 assassinations and targeted killings, 623 ground clashes took place in which 2,566 people were killed and 3,021 were injured.
Hashemi said that after the Taliban launched attacks on the country’s security and defense forces, the Taliban also witnessed significant casualties, with at least 24,609 Taliban killed, wounded or detained.
He said the clashes had displaced large numbers of people and destroyed educational facilities, especially in Taliban-held areas where at least 621 schools were destroyed or closed depriving 42 percent of students of their education.
ENDS
