Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday called on the Taliban to stop violence and said the group has no legitimacy for the ongoing violence.
In his message on Nawruz festival (new year), the president said who gave them (Taliban) legitimacy to kill.
“Stop it,” President Ghani said, urging the Taliban to “come and accept each other.”
“We will achieve peace,” he said, but added that “it should be a peace that ends bloodshed in the country.”
“We have the capacity to stand on our own feet, but it needs unity,” he continued.
On Sunday, Afghans across the country, especially in Balkh province, began the new year with traditional Jahenda Bala (flag hoisting) ceremony in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Every year, tens of thousands of people from across the country flock to Mazar-e-Sharif to attend ceremony in the Blue Mosque.
BOMB BLASTS: Meanwhile, two bomb blasts rocked Jalalabad city of Nangarhar province on Sunday morning, killing one civilian and wounding another.
Nangarhar police say a roadside bomb exploded near the Department of Agriculture in the first district of Jalalabad, killing a municipal employee.
The second blast occurred close to the site of the first explosion, injuring a civilian.
No group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the blasts.
