Civil society seeks 2-month lull in peace bid

KUNDUZ CITY (Pajhwok): Condemning the killing of a journalist in a militant attack on the Serena hotel in Kabul activists and journalists on Thursday called on the government to announce a boycott of peace talks with insurgents for a period of two months.

Journalist Sardar Ahmad, his wife and their two children were among nine people killed in the assault on last Thursday evening. Sardar’s third child wounded in the attack is said to be still in a critical condition.

Carrying photos of the victims in their hands, a large number of civil society activists and journalists on Thursday held a protest gathering in Kunduz City. They condemned Ahmad’s death along with his family in the assault claimed by the Taliban.

A civil society organization head, Abdullah Rassouli, who attended the gathering, said journalists were neutral in their job and they should not be targeted by any party to the conflict.

Strongly condemning Ahmad’s and his relatives’ deaths, he asked President Karzai to stop calling the Taliban as brothers.

Another civil society activist, Habibullah Dost, said the whole nation mourned the killing of Ahmad’s two children in the merciless attack.

“I have no words to condemn the incident and explain my emotions, but I am among millions others having condemned the attack’s perpetrators,” he said.

At the end, the gathering issued statement asking the government to boycott peace talks with the insurgents for two months.

It called for the rebels to be forced into shunning violence by using force. “We want judicial courts to investigate incidents of violence against journalists.”

Sardar Ahmad, 40, had been working for AFP since 2003.

mds/ma

Visits: 0