Pakistan should play sincere role in Afghan peace process, says President Ghani

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met with Pakistan army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa and Gen. Sir Nick Carter, Britain's Chief of the Defence Staff and Head of the British Armed Forces in Kabul on Monday and discussed Pakistan's role in the peace process, and the escalation of violence in Afghanistan.

"President Ashraf Ghani attached great importance to the role of the regional countries particularly Pakistan in establishing peace in Afghanistan and the country's influence on the Taliban," the Afghan Presidential Palace said in a statement on Monday.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have no choice but to opt for mutual respect, good neighbourliness and economic cooperation, Ghani added.

Ghani further said that there is no military solution for the ongoing war in Afghanistan and that Taliban's insistence to stick to a military solution is unacceptable for the people of Afghanistan.

He termed stability in the two countries interrelated to each other and called for an effective and sincere role to be played by Pakistan for ensuring enduring peace in Afghanistan.

This comes after at least three explosions that took place near Sayed-ul-Shuhada High School in the west of Kabul on Saturday afternoon. As many as 63 people, all students, were killed in a Kabul school bombing and 150 more were wounded, TOLO News reported citing sources and relatives of victims.

Amid the ongoing drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan, the war-torn country has seen a spike in the incidents of violence in recent weeks, leading to casualties of Afghan security forces and civilians.

Over 1,000 Taliban terrorists have been killed and wounded in several encounters with the Afghan security forces during this period in Kandahar, Helmand, Farah, Herat and Baghlan provinces, the Army Staff Chief said last week.

( With inputs from ANI )