KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday appealed for unity and reconciliation after the self-styled Islamic State (IS) extended its atrocities in the country, killing a number of tribal elders in recent past.
“Militants believe they can reach their nefarious designs by killing elders while the history shows the Afghans had defended their motherland at the cost of their blood,” Ghani said in a video speech to participants of a ceremony marking the fourth death anniversary of former president and head of the High Peace Council (HPC)Burhanudin Rabani in Kabul.
The president said insurgents had killed hundreds of religious scholars, political personalities and tribal elders during the past ten years, adding that recently the so-called IS militants killed elders and negotiators in different provinces. The victims loved peace and wanted their country to be stable, he said.
“The current conflict is being dealt with at a heavy price. We lose our close aides and friends every day and their precious blood leave a message for us to unite and forget issues that divide us,” he noted.
He added late HPC head Ustad Rabani knew that the conflict in Afghanistan could not be resolved through fighting and therefore he had been stressing the need for reconciliation and for this purpose, he traveled to foreign countries to make the peace process a success.
“The former president believed that fighting in the country would widen differences among Afghans and that was why he preferred to lead the mission of peace in the larger interest of Afghanistan,” said Ghani.
Earlier, the 4th death anniversary of Rabbani was observed with the laying of a floral wreath on his grave in Kabul on Sunday.
Rabbani was assassinated at his residence in Wazir Akbar Khan along with three members of the peace panel by a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban emissary. He remained president from 1992 to 1996.
The National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Ministry of Interior had alleged the suicide attacker was a Pakistani national and the assassination plot was hatched in Balochistan’s capital Quetta. (Pajhwok)