SWABI: Experts cautioned on Friday that any failure to take all the stakeholders into confidence in the ongoing Afghan peace negotiations could lead to another devastating civil war in the restive country.

They were speaking at the Rabita programme of the Swabi Electronic Media Association.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Feb 15 the former Soviet Union completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan under the Geneva Accords after 10 years of bleeding occupation and unsuccessful war against Afghan militants backed by America and its allies. The day marked the 30th anniversary of Russia’s fateful decision.

The speakers were unanimous in their opinion that as compared with rest of Pakistan the four-decade-long Afghan war had badly harmed the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Dr Adnan Sarwar Khan, former chairman of department of international relations, the University of Peshawar, said: “Both the US and Taliban are looking serious to strike a peace deal. However, nothing could be said in international affairs.”

The trajectory of the US policy and US President Donald Trump’s one-point agenda to focus on the country’s economy had made clear that the US was no longer interested in continuing wars in foreign countries.

Dr Mohammad Jasim, who stayed in Afghanistan for some time, said that now it was clear that the US did not want to stay further in the ‘endless’ war in Afghanistan as it had already met the fate of former Soviet Union and United Kingdom.

Qaisar Khan, an educationist, said all the invaders had tasted ignominious defeat in Afghanistan but each one had utterly failed to learn a lesson from the debacle of the other.

Jehanzeb Khan, former district nazim, said Pakistan had played a key role in US-Taliban talks.

THICK FOG: Thick fog has enveloped the entire district and its surrounding regions causing extreme cold. Gadoon Amazai mountainous region is in the grip freezing cold and majority of the people are forced to stay indoors. Business activities in the whole region have also been affected.

Farmers told Dawn that now it was time to prepare fields for tobacco plantation but continued rains had hampered their job.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2019