Afghanistan's president must step down for peace: Taliban

Ground Report | New Delhi: Afghanistan's president; The Taliban say that they do not want a monopoly on Afghanistan's power, but at the same time,. they have stressed that until a new government is formed in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani is removed from office, peace is established in the country. In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen clarified the Taliban's stand regarding the future of Afghanistan.

Suhail Shaheen is also part of the delegation from the Taliban holding talks with different countries. After the US and NATO troops left Afghanistan, the Taliban has been continuously controlling different parts of the country. This week, Mark Milley, a senior US military general, told a Pentagon press briefing that the Taliban had a strategic edge.

General Mark Milley did not deny that the Taliban could take the whole of Afghanistan under their intervention. Suhail Shaheen told AP news agency, "When after talks such a government will be formed in Kabul which will be acceptable to all parties and Ashraf Ghani's government goes, then Taliban will lay down its arms."

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"I want to make it clear that we don't want a monopoly on power because governments that have tried to take all power in Afghanistan in the past have been unsuccessful governments." Suhail Shaheen has also counted his rule of Taliban among those failed governments. He clarified that "we don't want to repeat the same formula again."

But the Taliban has made one more thing clear that there will be no compromise on the issue of President Ashraf Ghani. On Tuesday, on the occasion of Bakrid, President Ashraf Ghani had spoken of attacking the Taliban in his speech. In response, the Taliban called Ashraf Ghani a merchant of war.

Suhail Shaheen says that President Ashraf Ghani has lost the right to rule the country. Apart from this, the Taliban has accused him of winning through election rigging in the year 2019. After the last general election, Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah both claimed their victory.

My interview with AP in which I said when an Islamic government comes about as result of negotiations will replace the current Administration. This is a fact every one knows. Why hue and cry? https://t.co/P30Suhzfrw

— Suhail Shaheen. محمد سهیل شاهین (@suhailshaheen1) July 23, 2021

However, an agreement was reached between the two, after which Abdullah was given the rank of number two in the government and was appointed the head of the reconciliation committee.

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White House press secretary Jen Psaki told AP news agency on Friday that President Biden's support is with the Afghan president, on the Taliban's demand to remove President Ashraf Ghani.

Twenty years ago, when the Taliban was in power in Afghanistan, girls were banned from getting an education, Sharia law was in force. Many people are afraid of the return of that era of the Taliban. Those Afghans who are in good financial condition are applying for visas to leave Afghanistan. 95 percent withdrawal of US and NATO forces has been completed and this work will be completed by August 31.

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