Azra District residents revolt against Taliban

AZRA DISTRICT, Logar Province -- Residents of Azra District, Logar Province, are taking up arms in revolt against the Taliban, local officials and members of the uprising say.

"Fed up with the Taliban and their actions, about 300 residents ... have risen up, so that they can maintain peace in the region," Abdulwali Wakil, a member of the Logar Provincial Council, told Salaam Times.

The residents May 14 announced their uprising in a meeting attended by representatives from the Afghan parliament and of the Logar Provincial Council, the provincial police chief and the deputy governor.

They posed two options for the Taliban: join the peace process or face the armed uprising.

"First, they asked the Taliban to follow the example of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e-Islami, that is to honourably denounce terrorism, lay down their arms and join the peace process," Wakil said. "The second option, however, consists of civilians joining the fight against the Taliban and the spread of armed uprisings to crush militant forces."

Afghans 'thirsty for peace'

"The Taliban are the biggest cause of insecurity, violence and backwardness in Logar," one of the participants in the May 14 meeting told Salaam Times, declining to give his name.

"We are gathered here today to tell the Taliban to stop terrorism," said the participant. "We want to tell them that the patience of Logar residents has come to an end and that we can no longer tolerate you."

"Afghanistan will not forget the Taliban's crimes and oppression," Khan Mohammad, another member of the uprising, told Salaam Times. "Our people ... are thirsty for peace."

"I warn the Taliban: if you do not join the peace process, then we ... will continue our uprising until your complete destruction is realised," he said.

"Members of this uprising pledged not to allow the Taliban or any other terrorist group, for that matter, to ever again commit terrorism against the Afghan people and government," Logar police chief Brig. Gen. Esmatullah Alizai told Salaam Times.

"At the same time, the Afghan government, and particularly myself on behalf of the Ministry of Interior, promises to provide members of uprisings with total support until the very end," he said.

"Any popular movement that works towards establishing security and stability, as well as defeating the Taliban in Logar Province, will be welcomed and supported by the local officials in this province," he said.

'Best option is to join peace process'

"Since Azra residents have taken up arms and put the Taliban on notice not to continue their terror activities and to join the peace process, the province's security situation has improved," Salim Saleh, spokesman for the Logar governor's office, told Salaam Times June 29.

"The members of the uprising have one wish and one wish only: peace and the end of fighting," said Afghan MP Sahib Khan, a representative from Logar who attended the meeting. "All Afghans share their demands."

"Armed popular uprisings against the Taliban and explicit demands by residents to the Taliban to end the war show that everywhere in Afghanistan, the public wants neither the war nor the Taliban," he told Salaam Times.

"The best option for the Taliban is to join the peace process," he said. "Otherwise, their leaders will either be killed or die in exile, while their fighters will be destroyed in battle by the Afghan security forces."