Afghan president: We have plan to restore stability in country in six months

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani says Kabul has a plan to restore stability in the country in six months despite the fast-deteriorating security situation.

“The current situation is due to a sudden decision on the withdrawal of the international troops,” Ghani told the parliament in a speech he delivered on Monday, Afghanistan’s TOLO news agency reported.

Afghanistan has had “an unexpected situation” during the past three months, he said. “This aggression and war has been imposed on us.”

Under a deal with the Taliban, which was signed in 2020, the United States has pulled out most of its troops from Afghanistan.

Ghani said Afghans “have paid a high price for peace and showed great gentleness, but instead war was imposed on us.” He was indirectly referring to the release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners by the government as part of the peace process.

He also denounced that process as an “imported” and “hasty” one imposed on Kabul that had resulted in “legitimizing an insurgent group instead of achieving peace.”

However, Ghani assured the Afghan nation that the situation would change in the next six months and the government would bring everything under control due to the security plan. “The army is defending strategic goals and the police are defending the cities.”

Battle in Herat forces more Afghan civilians from homes

“At the moment the fighting is ongoing in the south and southeast,” Governor Qani said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the president urged the national assembly and the political leaders to work for unity. Ghani stressed that it was the “only way toward our victory” against the Taliban militants, who are “not committed to any values.”

The Taliban would not move toward peace unless the deteriorating security situation was curbed, Ghani said.

Peace talks between Kabul and Taliban negotiators commenced last year in the Qatari capital of Doha, but have not made any substantive progress despite a few rounds.

The Afghan president also said the Taliban had not cut ties with terrorist groups, and had expanded attacks on women and civil society activists.

The militant group has rejected Ghani’s comments.

The Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted that “declarations of war, accusations, and lies cannot prolong Ghani’s government’s life; his time has run out.”

Afghan forces battle to stop Taliban from advancing on provincial cities

Violent clashes between the Taliban and Afghan government forces surge across Afghanistan.

Violence particularly surged across Afghanistan after the United States failed to meet a May 1 deadline for a complete withdrawal of its forces from the country under the US-Taliban deal.

The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban from power, but it worsened the security situation in the country. The campaign in Afghanistan, which has led to the longest war in US history, has left the nation “poor, aid-dependent, and conflict-affected,” according to the latest report submitted to the US Congress.

Washington has been blamed for the surge as it has failed to stabilize the security situation after two decades of war and occupation.

According to the US military sources, the Taliban now controls more than 200 of the country’s 419 district centers.

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