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News ID: 83730
Publish Date : 11 October 2020 - 21:37
Amid Escalation in Fighting

Afghan Religious Scholars Call for Ceasefire

KUNDUZ (Dispatches) – Afghan religious scholars, in a gathering held in Kunduz city the capital of northern Kunduz province on Sunday condemned the ongoing conflict and hostilities in the country and called for a ceasefire to facilitate the peace talks to succeed.
"The people of Afghanistan are fed up with war, the prolonged war that has destroyed our country and has devoured the people’s life and properties,” head of the Religious Council of the troubled Kunduz province Mawlawi Mohammad Aqel Sirat said in his speech.
Hundreds of people attended the gathering in Kunduz city.
Mawlawi expressed support to the ongoing intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha and urged the Taliban to respect the will of Afghans and halt the violence.
"I am calling upon the Taliban to first stop violence, observe ceasefire and then project its demands at the peace talks with government,” Aqel told the audience.
The religious scholar called for the ceasefire amid ongoing but difficult intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha and increasing militancy in Afghanistan.
Endorsing government demand for ceasefire, the prayer leaders in their sermon on Friday congregation in Kabul also denounced the continued war and called for a halt to fighting.
A 21-member Afghan government negotiating team has been engaged with the Taliban representatives in Doha since Sept. 12 to find political solution to Afghanistan’s prolonged conflict but no tangible progress has been reported.
More than 50 fighters including 10 security personnel, and three civilians, according to security officials have been killed over the past 24 hours in the insurgency-battered country.
The Taliban outfit which has welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweet to take his troops back home by Christmas has reportedly rejected the offer for ceasefire before reaching agreement on the future system of Afghanistan.
Taliban Deny Endorsing Trump

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied claim by CBS News that the Afghan group wants U.S. President Donald Trump to win the election and withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
The "clarification” from the Taliban spokesman came hours after the report that the group threw its weight behind Trump set Twitter alight, with the U.S. president’s detractors seizing upon the unusual endorsement to tear into the Trump administration, RT reported. "U.S. news outlet @CBSNews has interpreted & published my remarks incorrectly. Nothing of the sort has been communicated as publicized by them,” Mujahid tweeted.
In its report on Saturday, CBS News claimed that Mujahid told them in a "phone interview” that he hopes Trump would prevail over his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in November, and stick to the withdrawal plan, agreed as part of the deal with the Taliban earlier this year.