Dostum Calls for Political Settlement to Conflict

Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum emphasized the importance of a political settlement to the conflict in the country, saying that there is no military solution and that all sides should engage in the peace efforts.

Dostum said that issues such as governance must be addressed to achieve peace in the country.
“If we were supposed to achieve something from war, we would have achieved it over the last 42 years. Once the power was taken by the Taliban, once by mujahideen… nothing was achieved,” Dostum added.

He said that efforts should be made to improve governance in the country.

“The election of governors, district governors… There are two governors here (in Jawzjan). One governor is from the government and another is from the Taliban,” Dostum said.

Dostum Reacted to Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s recent threats to launch a protest if his (Hekmatyar’s) prisoners were not released, saying: they are just words.

“Mr. Hekmatyar is good at making shallow remarks to make himself famous and to show to his supporters that he has this or that ability. We mentioned what party is he representing?” Dostum said.

Dostum said that he has not returned to Kabul due to the lack of an available office and that the president has not responded to a request for a meeting with him.

This comes as the negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban negotiators are stopped for the last 36 days, during which they were expected to hold meetings at working group levels to finalize the agenda of the talks.