Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has expressed his government’s serious concerns about what he sees as “the violence perpetrated against peaceful protesters and civil activists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan”.
Uneasiness between Afghanistan and Pakistan was rekindled after the arrests of a group of ethnic Pashtun activists and the Afghan President choosing to have a say in the matter. The protests were followed by the death of a regional leader Arman Loni, who the protestors allege was singled out and murdered by the police. Police maintain that the deceased died of a heart attack during clashes. This, in return, has prompted a loud and stern response by the Afghan President, who himself is a Pashtun. Current tensions have surfaced at a time when Pakistan has been supporting efforts to open a peace process with the Taliban to end more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan.
The Afghan President has also tweeted: “We believe it is the moral responsibility of every government to support civil activities that take a stand against the terrorism and extremism that plagues and threatens our region and collective security. Otherwise there could be long-standing negative consequences.”
Speaking about the arrests of protestors in Pakistan, Rights group Amnesty International issued a statement saying authorities “must immediately and unconditionally release protesters belonging to the peaceful Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.”
PTM leader Ali Wazir has claimed that 18 activists were still in custody after one of those detained was released this week. Another PTM leader, Mohsin Dawar thanked the Afghan President for his statement. Both leaders are elected public representatives from the Pashtun majority Waziristan region next to Afghanistan.
Published in Daily Times, February 8th 2019.
