KABUL - Some Meshrano Jirga or Senate members on Tuesday said the new US strategy was more focused on the continuation of war than peace and reconciliation in the war-torn country.
Some lawmakers said pressure on Pakistan and the Taliban were positive points of the strategy.
Lawamker Gul Ahmad Azami said: “We support the new US strategy in the current situation, but what worries us is the continuation of fighting and little attention to the reconciliation process.”
Talking about ‘positive points’ in the strategy, the lawmaker said the US new Afghan policy helped define Pakistan “a country supporting terrorism” but these efforts were not enough, suggesting more restrictions on Pakistan.
Najiba Hussaini, another lawmaker, said there was nothing about reconciliation process in Afghanistan in the new US strategy. He said the US announced its new policy to ensure the conflict continued in Afghanistan.
She said the Afghan conflict could only be resolved through political efforts which she said should go together with force.
Daud Ghafari, another lawmaker, said: “No decisive action has so far been taken to vanquish the militants and the new strategy shows the conflict would continue at a time when all Afghans want peace and stability.”
Senate chairman Fazl Hadi Muslimyar welcomed the new US strategy and said isolation of Pakistan and putting more pressure on the Afghan Taliban were positive points of the strategy.
He said the Taliban might not accept to join peace process until the group was militarily suppressed.
Earlier in the day, deputy presidential spokesman Syed Hussain Murtazavi termed the new US strategy as an opportunity for Afghanistan and said the Afghan government should get maximum advantage of the new strategy. (Pajhwok)