Taliban abduct 6 peace marchers in Afghanistan

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – The Taliban in Afghanistan abducted six members of the celebrated Peoples’ Peace Movement, the group said on Saturday.

The PPM member Bismillah Watandost has been quoted by the local Shamshad TV saying that the group has been busy in encouraging people for peace in southeastern Logar province for the past some days now. Expressing concerns over safety of six of his fellow peace marchers, Watandost said the motives behind this abduction are not known yet.

Spokesman for the provincial governor, Dedar Ahmad Lawang, told Anadolu Agency the peace marchers held a large public gathering for peace after Friday prayers in the Khoshi district, and wished to hold another peace moot in the provincial capital, Pul-e-Alam, but the Taliban abducted six of its members. He vowed efforts have been expedited to ensure swift and safe release of the peace marchers.

The Taliban have not commented on this incident.

Originated as the Helmand Peace March when a suicide bomber killed scores of civilians in Helmand province, the PPM grabbed attention last year when its members walked the 700 km distance up to Kabul under scorching sun on the treacherous, insecure and barren highway.

It was on their request and during their short stay in Kabul when President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani declared unilateral, unconditional ceasefire against the Taliban for eight days in mid-June in 2018.