OIC Calls Warring Parties in Afghanistan to Declare Immediate Ceasefire

In a statement, the OIC urged everyone all parties to engage in a dialogue to reach comprehensive reconciliation and lasting peace in Afghanistan.

“Deploring the recent surge in violence in Afghanistan that has caused many casualties including women and children, the General Secretariat urged all stakeholders to reduce violence, declare an immediate ceasefire and resort to dialogue as the only way forward towards reaching comprehensive reconciliation and lasting peace in Afghanistan,” the OIC said in a statement.

Dr. Yousef Al Othaimeen, the OIC Secretary General, recalled the OIC’s initiatives and efforts toward lasting peace within the framework of the Afghan-led peace process.

“He referred to the resolutions adopted by the Islamic Summits and Council of Foreign Ministers, stressing the importance of the Makkah Declaration adopted in 2018 by the International Ulema Conference for Peace and Security in Afghanistan, which calls for dialogue, reconciliation, and tolerance based on the noble values of Islam in fulfilling the aspirations of the Afghan people for peace, security and development,” the statement quoted OIC’s Secretary General.

The Afghan government has welcomed Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s statement, according to the presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi.

It comes as Afghanistan’s religious scholars also gathered earlier this week, denouncing the ongoing war in the country. They urged an end to what they called a “power tussle” between the government and the militant group.

Likewise, religious scholars and clerics of Bangladesh said Sunday in a gathering titled “Call of the Ulama-Mashayekh of Bangladesh for the Establishment of Peace in Afghanistan” that ongoing war in the country has no legitimacy and is forbidden in Islam.