Afghans deprived of their right to peace for 40 years: Ghani

KABUL (Pajhwok): President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday that more than 90 percent of counterterrorism operations in the country were being conducted by the Afghan forces themselves. “Today’s Afghanistan is not what it used to be in the past defended by outsiders,” the president told a ceremony here marking the Armed Forces Day.

Ghani said the Afghan forces themselves were currently defending their homeland. He highlighted the progress made by the Afghan forces over the last two decades, saying: “We are close to self-reliance.” He called peace a fundamental right of the Afghans, who had been kept from achieving their goal over the last four decades. Tired of war and destruction, the Afghans yearned for lasting and dignified peace, he said.

The national security forces had played an essential role in combating international terrorism besides bravely safeguarding their motherland, the president added. About his recent speech to the UN Security Council, he said: “My main emphasis was that the global fraternity has kept our nation from realising fundamental right of peace and this is unacceptable to us.”

The president underlined the need for an immediate halt to violence and bloodshed in the country. The Afghans should no longer remain deprived of their right to education. With regard to the promotion of democracy in Afghanistan, Ghani said the sitting government and president had been elected by the people, who also elect their next leader. “It is the nation’s right and the security forces will ensure the legitimacy of change and election transparency.” The president hoped.