ASTANA - President Ashraf Ghani in Kazakhstan said that the Taliban and Daesh is a real threat for Afghanistan and for the region. Speaking at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan, Ghani said that the recent Taliban attack in Kunduz shows that the Afghan people are not in favor of the Taliban and that if the insurgent group wants the support of the people they need to come up with a democratic plan.

"The Taliban is a real threat. This is not a national issue only for Afghans. Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have changed into a threat for South Asian countries. They are problem creators. I am ready to hand over the government to them through a democratic process."

He said despite changes within the Taliban following the meeting in Norway with civil society activists earlier this year, the recent attacks in Kunduz by the group has made them extremely unpopular among the people.

"Recent attacks in Kunduz reveal that human rights violations by the group were unexpected by the people especially as a number of changes had been detected in the group's views after the Norway meeting."

Referring to recent insurgent attacks in Mali, Beirut, Istanbul and Paris, Ghani said the world is faced with another type of insurgency – that of Daesh.

"The biggest threat we are faced with is from terrorists that launched attacks in Paris and Istanbul. We are experiencing the biggest type of threat in Afghanistan which is the new terrorist group (Daesh)."

Ghani meanwhile called on Asian countries to make the most of current economic opportunities in the region and use them to boost investment and infrastructural development. (Tolonews)