Senate supports Helmand peace move

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AT-KABUL: The senate voiced support from a peace move held by the youth and women in the southern province of Helmand, emphasizing on a national consensus for peace.

A number of youth and women organized a sit tent in protest of the Friday’s suicide attack in a stadium in the Lashkar Gah city, the provincial capital that killed at least 20 civilians including children.

The organizers of the sit tent said Tuesday they would continue sitting tent move until the Taliban meet their peace demands.

Some senators said Tuesday that similar movements should be held in other provinces in demand for the peace.

Senator, Najiba Hosseini, said that peace talks with the Taliban would not work unless the nation gather and raise peace voice.

“The people in Helmand have raised peace voice and expressed hatred from war. I support this and ask for similar moves in other provinces. We need a national consensus because we can’t expect foreign help if we lack a national consensus,” Hosseini said.

Such moves come after President Ashraf Ghani’s call on Taliban regarding pre-condition talks, but the insurgent group is yet to formally response.

Iqbal Khaibar and Qais Hashemi, the war protesters in Helmand said they would try every possible ways for peace.

“We will go to the Taliban’s bases and will ask for government’s ceasefire. We will tell them that this is not the right way of governance,” they said. “We do not ask Pakistan or the United States for help. We will ask for our brothers’ help for peace.”

Similar moves were previously adopted in Kabul and Kunar provinces, in which people demanded peace talks with the Taliban.

Aziz Rafiee, head of the civil society said that protest was the right of the people. He was optimistic for fruitful consequences of the Helmand youth efforts.