Security

Surrendered Taliban fighters in Farah vow to defend Afghan forces

By Omar

Militants surrender to local authorities in Pur Chaman District, Farah Province, May 31. [Farah Police/Facebook]

Militants surrender to local authorities in Pur Chaman District, Farah Province, May 31. [Farah Police/Facebook]

HERAT -- A group of 30 Taliban fighters who have been fighting against Afghan security forces in Pur Chaman District, Farah Province, renounced violence and joined the peace process on May 31.

Abdul Wali Mubariz, commander of the group, said that he and all of his men are ready to defend the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF), adding that Taliban commanders deceived them.

"We opposed the government for a year, and we have distanced ourselves from it," he said. "After a long time, we got to know the truth. We came and joined the peace process."

"We are very happy to join our security forces and our people once again," Mubariz said.

An Afghan air force officer May 29 prepares a drone provided by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission at the Afghan National Army 207th Zafar Corps base in Herat Province. [Omar]

An Afghan air force officer May 29 prepares a drone provided by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission at the Afghan National Army 207th Zafar Corps base in Herat Province. [Omar]

"We 30 men, together with various types of weapons, joined our brothers, and we are standing beside the security forces," he said, adding that the group also handed over seven vehicles.

The group of Taliban fighters that surrendered was heavily armed and dangerous, said Farah Province Police Chief Maj. Ghulam Muhaiuddin Khairkhwa.

The group turned in mortars, 82mm recoilless rifles, PK machine guns, rocket launchers, Kalashnikov rifles and a large amount of ammunition, among other arms, according to Khairkhwa.

"[They] surrendered all this equipment to the Pur Chaman Police Department," he said.

The group had a hand in most of the attacks on ANDSF check-posts in Pur Chaman District, Khairkhwa said, adding that their surrender will improve security there and in surrounding districts.

No option other than peace

Most of the Taliban have realised that the ongoing fighting is imposed by foreigners, said Dadullah Qani, a member of the Farah Provincial Council.

"I call on other armed opponents of the government who fight the security forces to join the peace process and to rescue this country from its current condition," Qani said.

"What achievement do the Taliban have from this 18-year-long fighting that has killed hundreds of thousands?" he asked. "In the areas under the control of the Taliban, schools are closed, residents are deprived of their rights and children are used as cannon fodder for foreigners."

"The Taliban have to learn a lesson from their past and stop the continuation of this fighting," said Hameedullah Rahmani, a civil society activist in Farah Province.

"Now is the best chance to make peace," he said. "All of Afghanistan expects the Taliban to lay down their arms and to join their own people."

The Taliban's only course for survival is to join the peace process, Afghan military officials in the western zone said. If the Taliban continues to commit violence and killings, the ANDSF will show no mercy and will destroy them in air and ground raids, they said.

The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission on May 29 gave Afghan forces eight unmanned aircraft to help them fight the militants, Gen. Nurullah Qaderi, commander of the 207th Zafar Corps of the Afghan National Army, told journalists.

"We are warning the armed opponents [militants] that after today, we can find you wherever you are, wherever your hideouts are, wherever your bases are and wherever your strongholds are, and you will be bombed and killed by our aircraft," he said.

Still, the doors of peace are open to the Taliban, he said, urging them to join the peace process.

"Provide yourselves with a calm life... or else wherever you are, your havens will be destroyed and you will be killed," Qaderi said, addressing the Taliban.

"The enemy should know that we see them wherever they are and if we deem it necessary, we can destroy them in seconds," Brig. Gen. Qudratullah Seddiqi, commander of the Afghan air force in the western zone, told reporters.

"The Taliban must stop destroying the country and should come to negotiate, as the doors for the peace process are open and as we can resolve our problems peacefully," he said.

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Hello, i hope you're doing great! i proud to the National Forces, they always support the Afghan government. so, basically Talibans are tried of wars. I'm very happy heared that Taliban joined the peace process. i hope the should keep their words. and never say lie again to the government of Afghanistan.

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The one and only way is peace. If Taliban, and The government fights 1000 years more nothing will change. Fightings bring unhappiness and poverty, all afghans are tired of battle. We are dying every single day because of this fights.

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And [s/he] said that the doors towards peace are still open for the Taliban, calling on them to join the peace process.

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