Abdullah: We want to achieve peace, we want to achieve stability

Afghans want peace and leaders on both sides who do not embrace the opportunity will suffer the wrath of Afghans, exhausted by decades of war, said the Head of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation in Kabul on Wednesday.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah emphasised the importance of a reduction in violence to pave the road for reaching a peace deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

The council is the final say for the government side in historic negotiations which started in the Qatari capital Doha on 12 September.

The negotiations were a long time coming and were laid out in a deal signed in February between the US and the Taliban.

The deal was signed to allow America to withdraw from Afghanistan and end its longest military engagement of 19 years.

The US withdrawal does not hinge on the success of the Afghan negotiations, but rather on Taliban commitments to fight terrorist groups in Afghanistan, particularly the Islamic State group affiliate headquartered in eastern Afghanistan.