KABUL - Some lower house or Wolesi Jirga members on Saturday asked the unity government leaders to address recently erupted ethnic tension in northern provinces between supporters of two key government officials.
Two weeks earlier, an armed clash between supporters of Jamiat Islami, led by Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Noor, and Junbish, led by Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum, left 10 people dead on both sides and several others were injured.
Similarly hundreds of people, including Junbish-i-Milli members, on Saturday staged a protest rally in northern Balkh province, demanding the removal of Noor.
Abdul Rahim Ayoubi, a lawmaker from southern Kandahar province, told Saturday’s session that provoking ethnic disputes especially in the current situation was not good and wasn’t in anyone’s favor.
He asked the house administrative board to appoint and assign a delegation with investigating the clash and the differences.
He said if the lower house didn’t take a step to resolve the issue, then the enemies of Afghanistan would misuse and exploit the situation.
Escalation of disagreements between the Junbish and Jamiat parties, armed clashes between them and negligence of the government had made the north insecure.
He termed the government’s silence over the tension as questionable and said the government should take action and resolve the issue at the earliest possible.
Zakarya Sawda from northeastern Badakhshan province said the intensifying dispute between the two parties had insecurity in northern parts of the country.
He said the recent armed clash between supporters of the two groups had worried people and if the government didn’t pay attention, the situation in the north could worsen.
He also criticised government’s negligence and silence over the issue and said the regime should react and resolve the dispute.
Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi said the lower house had made continuous efforts to resolve the issue within the ambit of law.
“Dispute within the government that we experienced earlier has not led to the desired outcome. While it doesn’t relate to us and we don’t have the executive authority to give an order, but we want the unity government to bring to an end the dispute between the prominent government figures.”(Pajhwok)