Mon, Jun

Ex-insurgent: Peace is the way ahead


joining-peace-proccess-1Six Taliban stopped fighting against the people of Afghanistan and joined the peace process in Helmand province. These six are the latest group of insurgents to realize their misguided violence has no place in our country.

The insurgents fought the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) in Nad-e Ali district. Gul Ahmad, one of the insurgents who saw the bounty of peace spreading across the nation, explained there was no legitimate cause for which to fight.

Gul Ahmad said, "We gained nothing in the fight against our fellow Muslims and our Islamic government. Our people suffered as a result of our actions and in the end, after years of being deceived, we achieved nothing."

Mullah Rahim, another former fighter who stopped fighting after 5 years, said that Fazel Bari, head of the Provincial Peace Council invited the group to come to peace. Bari asked them to think deeply and question their reasoning as to why they would fight their fellow Afghan brothers. "Fazel Bari asked us to open our hearts and see that our actions were nothing but a distraction to the larger transformation of our homeland. We are tired of war and will never fight again. All this fighting against our government amounts to nothing," Mullah Rahim said.

Fazel Bari explained that this is one of the many insurgent groups to realize that fighting against the government is not Jihad. "More than 250 Taliban recently joined the peace process.


Additionally, 200 others have repented their crimes and were released from jails as a result of the peace council efforts," he said. "Each Taliban member still fighting the government must understand that more of their fellow fighters are leaving the battlefield to come home to their families. I encourage each to embrace the seeds of the peace residing in their hearts. The Taliban must understand that a new era has arrived and the dark time is over."

The local elders and the peace council members are leading negotiations to assist the deceived insurgents to understand that they are involved in a fight against their own people.

Mawlawi Mehrdil, a member of the Ulema Council, placed turbans upon the former insurgents at a public ceremony, proclaiming these men now stand for peace. "You have now embraced the true principles of peace laid down by holy Islam. Together, we shall spread peace across Helmand."