Kabul, Following US President Donald Trump’s decision to call off peace talks with the Taliban, Afghans have urged the militant group to end the 18-year conflict in the war-torn country, a media reported on Monday.
Afghan civilians on Sunday urged the Taliban to swiftly agree on a ceasefire and resume the talks with the US side and the Afghan government. But at the same time, there were serious concerns that Trump’s move could further lead to the expansion of the war and violence.
A survey conducted by TOLO News showed that a majority of Afghans have welcomed Trump’s decision.
According to the survey on TOLO News’ Facebook page, 76 per cent of the respondents from amongst 25,500 people have said that Trump’s move to cancel the talks with the Taliban was a “right decision”.
On its Twitter account, 1,400 people took part in the survey out of which 44 per cent said that Trump’s decision was right and 40 per cent said that they were worried about the decision and the remaining 15 per cent said that had no interest on the issue.
“The poll shows that ordinary Afghans, who mostly use Facebook, are in favour of the decision but on Twitter, which is mostly used by political elites and those who are well-aware of the situation, they are worried about this decision,” said Siyar Sirat, an editor at TOLO News.
People from different parts of the country interviewed by TOLO News had mixed reaction about the decision.
“To end the war, there is a need to start the negotiations at any level,” one resident said.
“The peace process was moving forward in an unknown and vague way, because of this, the people were concerned about a Taliban comeback. We welcome the decision by the US President,” a woman from Herat said.
“I urge the Taliban and the government to sit together,” said a man from Nangarhar.
The Taliban have intensified their deadly attacks across the country simultaneously with the start of talks with the Americans last October.
The UN recently in a report said that it had registered a record number of casualties in the country as result of an intensifying violence.
