Kabul, August 19: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday pledged to “eliminate” all occupied safe haven of the Islamic State – a militant organization, as the nation marked its 100 Independence Day after a “horrific” suicide bombing attack, claimed by IS, in Kabul at a wedding ceremony that claimed the lives of 63 people with other 180 injured.
Ghani’s comment came as Afghanis mourn about 63 individuals, including women and children, killed on Saturday night’s blast in Kabul, according to Dawn.
On Sunday, United States special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said the Afghan peace process needed to be accelerated to assist Afghan defeat the ISIS affiliate, enjoying safe have in the war-ravaged nation.
We must accelerate the #AfghanPeaceProcess including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat ISIS.
— U.S. Special Representative Thomas West (@US4AfghanPeace) August 18, 2019
But on Monday, Ghani asserted the Taliban should be blamed, saying the Taliban “have created the platform for terrorists” with its terror attacks on mosques, schools and other public places over a year.
“We will take revenge for every civilian drop of blood,” Ghani declared. “Our struggle will continue against (IS), we will take revenge and will root them out.”
Ghani further called on the international community to join his efforts. He once against blamed Pakistan for providing safe haven to militants.
“Pakistan rejects these baseless allegations. It is important for the media to discern the propaganda objectives of terrorist organizations aimed at creating misunderstandings,” the FO had said.
Moreover, the Afghan president called on Pakistani nationals “who very much want peace” to “help identify the IS safe havens there”.