Herat residents blast Taliban for handicapping development projects

HERAT -- More than 500 residents in Herat Province gathered on October 28 to denounce the Taliban for activities that have deprived them of public services and development projects.

The Taliban will not allow the government to pave roads and build schools and hospitals in the area, said Zainab Rahimi, 60, a resident of Shindand District who lives in a village under the militant group's control.

"We have fallen victim [to the fighting] between the Taliban and the government," she said. "Every time there is a clash in our village, civilians get killed and injured. The Taliban hide themselves in civilians' homes from where they fight with the security forces, which causes civilian casualties."

"We call on the Taliban and the government to make peace so that our children and youth can go to schools and so that roads and hospitals are built in our village," she said. "Every time a family member of ours is sick, it is very hard to take him [or her] to the hospital in Shindand District centre."

"With the help of local elders, the government showed a readiness to dig deep wells in our village to ensure irrigation for farmlands and to pave our roads, but the Taliban didn't allow it to do the work," said Abdul Wahed, a resident of Ghorian District in Herat.

Residents of remote and insecure villages have always wanted a hospital and school, said Wahed.

"Civilians have always been deprived of public services in areas under the Taliban's control," he said. "They face a great deal of economic problems and poverty. Most young people of our village migrate to the neighbouring countries to earn a living, and most of them have become addicted [to drugs]."

"Implementing development projects will create jobs for young Afghans who won't need to go to neighbouring countries for work."

"The government is committed to ensuring inclusive development throughout the country, but because of unrest and the Taliban's restrictions, it is hard to implement development projects in insecure and remote areas," Mohibullah Samim, acting Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, told reporters in Herat city on October 28.

"And in many instances, they can't be implemented at all."

Once a ceasefire takes effect and peace ensues, more development projects will occur in villages, especially along the border and in insecure areas, said Samim.

"The unrest and [security] issues have blocked the delivery of government services, and as a result fewer development projects serve inhabitants of border areas. But the government is trying to begin development work in these areas as security improves," he said.

"Civilians have been affected by violence and unrest in border areas," added Samim. "The Taliban must listen to the voices of the public for peace and agree to a ceasefire so that we can address civilians' problems."

A surge in attacks

Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban started in Doha, Qatar, in September, though increasing Taliban violence has been threatening the talks.

The Taliban are continuing to fight and kill Afghans to gain an upper hand in negotiations, say a number of residents of border areas and tribal elders in Herat.

In order to gain political leverage and strengthen their bargaining power, the Taliban have escalated the killing of Afghans, and dozens of Afghan youths, women and children lose their lives every day in the war, said Muhammad Arif Is-haqzai, a representative of Kuchis (nomads) and a tribal elder.

"We ask the Taliban why they fight with their own people," he said. "The Taliban should stop killing their compatriots with orders from others and disrupting the peace process."

"Religious scholars and tribal elders have told civilians in their sermons [and speeches] that they should secure their villages and districts and contain the Taliban's attacks," he said. "There are neither Russians nor Americans in the villages and districts, so whom are the Taliban fighting?"

"The Taliban promised in Qatar that they would soon begin intra-Afghan peace talks and declare a ceasefire, but all these promises were false as they increased the killing of innocent civilians and of security personnel instead of reducing violence," said Muhammad Sadiq Haidari, a resident of Keshk Rabat Sangi District of Herat.

The militant group has increased its attacks ever since it entered into peace talks with the government in Qatar, which shows a clear breach of the peace deal the Taliban reached with the United States in February, said Haidari.

"We ask the Taliban to stop fighting and declare a ceasefire after commencing peace talks in Qatar," he added.

"Suicide attacks and blasts kill civilians every day, and these acts of the Taliban are not acceptable to any Afghans."

Peace is needed 'more than anything else'

Religious scholars and tribal elders at the gathering also said they consider peace and a ceasefire the only solution for the crisis. They called on parties to the conflict, especially the Taliban, to listen to the appeal of Afghans for peace and enact a ceasefire.

Dozens of Afghan youth and the elderly lose their lives in conflicts every day, and the killing of Muslims is not allowed from the perspective of Islam, and therefore, this bloodshed needs to stop, said Maulawi Muhammad Ali Hussaini, a religious scholar in Herat city.

"Right now, Afghans need peace more than everything else," added Hussaini. "If peace is ensured in Afghanistan, it will reduce poverty and Afghans will be able to earn a decent living in peace and security for their families. Families will never lose their breadwinners, and the innocent will no longer be killed."

"We invite both parties to the conflict to look into the violence in the country and how it affects the public and try to realise the unrest and the dire economic and social conditions" it causes, he added. "This war and bloodshed can't achieve anything other than ruining [the country] and the dissatisfaction of God."

Afghans can no longer tolerate the tears of orphaned children and widows, and the Taliban should stop killing their own compatriots, said Ghulam Rasoul, a tribal elder in Herat.

"War is not a solution, and it will never be one," he added. "If this war was a solution, it could have had a winner and would have been resolved. Innocent Afghans have suffered from the war for nearly 20 years."

"The intelligence agencies of the neighbouring countries benefit from the war in Afghanistan," he added.

"These countries use the Taliban for their own interests and arm them to fight against Afghans. The Taliban ... should stop killing the innocent."