MPs urge response to surging violence

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Lawmakers in Afghanistan’s parliament raised deep concerns over a surge in the Taliban attacks targeting Afghan security forces on multiple fronts across the country, calling on the Afghan government to retaliate with full force.

They said that while the Afghan security and defense forces remain in a defensive mode, the Taliban are exploiting the situation for their military objectives by launching attacks on government forces.

“Yamgan district, which has fallen three times, has collapsed again,” said Nazifa Zaki, a member of parliament, referring to the fall of Badakhshan’s Yamgan district to the Taliban.

“Badakshan’s Yamgan district collapsed to the Taliban and they martyred a number of our security and defense forces. The parliament’s defense commission should investigate the issue as soon as possible,” said Mir Rahman Rahmani, speaker of the parliament.

Meanwhile, another lawmaker from Balkh province in the north of Afghanistan said that over 100 people were killed and wounded in the province over the past one month during battles between the Afghan security forces and the insurgents.

“Balkh province is burning in fire each day, nearly a 100 people were killed and wounded in the past one month,” said Abdul Khaliq, a lawmaker from Balkh province.

“Not only in the northern regions of the country, but violence has escalated in other parts of the country as well,” said MP Shafiqa Sakha.

Some MPs said that the Taliban, by expanding their offensives, are intending to score points at the peace negotiation table. (TOLOnews)