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| Majority of Afghans for reconciliation with Taliban |
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| ISLAMABAD (APP): A large majority of people in Afghanistan want the government to make amends with the Taliban, according to a poll by the International Republican Institute. 68 per cent of respondents share this view, while 14 per cent oppose it.
Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terror. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden without evidence of his participation in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001,killing nearly 3,000 people.
The United States-led Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) currently command the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai has been Afghanistan's president since November 2004, when he won the first-ever presidential election in the country with 55.4 per cent of all cast ballots.
Before that, he headed an interim government for two years.
Karzai's government is currently holding national reconciliation talks with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
On Jun. 3, Catherine Loubier, a spokesperson for Canadian foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon, said that Ottawa supports Karzai's talks with the Taliban, saying, "It is up to the Afghan government to decide how and with whom to engage in order to bring sustainable peace to Afghanistan. We encourage initiatives that will bring lasting peace to Afghanistan." |
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