Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned on Sunday a recent surge in deadly attacks by the Taliban, calling the attacks on civilian and military targets “un-Islamic.”
Ghani called on all leaders in the country – religious, political and social – to denounce the violence.
"It is enough and it's no longer acceptable," Ghani yelled during his speech Sunday at a local school. “These acts are not Islamic and are inhuman.”
At one point, he even shouted: "Enough! No more!"
In recent weeks, Afghanistan has seen waves of suicide bombings – 12 in Kabul in the past month alone – and commando-style assaults by the Islamist insurgents, who are seeking to make territorial gains and to spread uncertainty as most foreign troops withdraw at the end of the month after 13 years.
Several of the attacks have targeted foreigners in the capital. Two Kabul guest houses used by foreigners were targeted within days of each other last month. And on Thursday, a suicide bombing at a French cultural center guarded by the army in central Kabul killed a German man, who was attending a performance of a play denouncing suicide bombs.
Ghani, in an angry speech delivered at a local school, vowed to shake up security in Kabul. He said he is seeking to revive a security body last seen in use in the 1980s but offered no more details.
Security detail
However, his spokesman said the new body would coordinate between police, military and intelligence agencies, according to Reuters.
"The number of forces we have in Kabul is sufficient, but the way they are being used is a problem, we have to change that," spokesman Nazifullah Salarzai said after the event.
Ghani, who took office two months ago in a power-sharing agreement with rival Abdullah Abdullah, has yet to announce a Cabinet, a situation analysts say has added to the instability in the country.
Presidential spokesman Salarzai said Ghani has devoted a third of his time to security and that, in the long run, the slow selection of officials would assure good governance in a country plagued by political corruption.
Salarzai added that the government was committed to naming the cabinet within the next two weeks.
Some material for this report came from Reuters, AFP and AP.
