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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has urged the Afghan Taliban to shun violence and join a “humanitarian ceasefire” so that the dream of lasting peace in the country is realized.
In a statement issued Wednesday by the North Atlantic Council (NAC), the NATO’s political decision-making body, the intergovernmental military alliance reiterated that an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process was the “only way to deliver sustainable peace to the Afghan people and to ensure Afghanistan’s long-term security and stability”.
It said it would help make the environment more conducive for the talks and fulfilment of the Taliban’s promises to go ahead. “We call on all sides to rapidly resolve the remaining issues still precluding the start of inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations,” the statement read.
“The current level of violence – driven especially by Taliban attacks against Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, remains unacceptably high, causing instability and undermining confidence in the peace process,” it added further.
The NATO highlighted the Eid-ul-Fitr ceasefires in Afghanistan during 2018 and 2020, as well as reduced violence ahead of the US-Taliban peace deal, referencing the events to underscore the importance for the group to “agree to a humanitarian ceasefire that applies to all sides”. “Both sides must also urgently resolve issues related to prisoner releases,” it said.
